Colombia did what they call, FAFO... (Page 1/8)
82-T/A [At Work] JAN 26, 04:22 PM
For those who don't remember, Colombia refused to accept back into the country, two military flights that had Colombian nationals.

The president of Colombia was playing hardball, which is INSANE... because the United States has given them BILLIONS. Last year alone, they got $448 million from the United States.


Today, Trump issued retaliatory measures (as of Monday), and is:

- directing his administration to impose emergency 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Colombia, which will rise to 50 percent in seven days.

- will issue a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials “and all allies and supporters.”

- will add visa sanctions on all members on party members, supporters, and family members of Colombian government officials will also be applied.

- will add enhanced U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo on “national security grounds.”

- will add various other banking and financial sanctions.

... these measures will take effect starting Monday.


In addition to the totally insane actions of President Petro, he also "turned away U.S. flights with Colombian nationals on board," which I should remind everyone... are the wealthy Colombians who actually bring money back into their country. This is incredibly... incredibly stupid for the president of Colombia, especially because nearly 30% of Colombia's exports go to the United States: https://www.worldstopexport...bias-top-10-exports/

For what it's worth, Gustavo Petro is a radical leftist that Colombia elected just under 3 years ago... which was one of the first radical leftist presidents in a long time. Until then, they've had a series of centrist, conservative, and slightly left-leaning (workers party) style presidents.

I'm trying not to be a dick here, especially on Sunday. But what does Petro think he's doing? Guarantee he's going to allow the flights by the end of the week. No way he wants 50% tariffs on his exports... it'll be a complete disaster for his country.


Mexico has already backed down and accepted four flights with Mexican nationals that all had criminal records.
82-T/A [At Work] JAN 26, 04:27 PM
Here is the article I paraphrased: https://www.theepochtimes.c...tion-flights-5799080
82-T/A [At Work] JAN 26, 04:44 PM
Update - Just saw on the news that Colombia's President stated that he would immediately send his own planes to the United States to retrieve the Colombian prisoners.

He's trying to save face now by saying that they're Colombian citizens and deserve dignity or some nonsense (even though they are actually criminals... having committed crimes like theft, rape, etc.)
82-T/A [At Work] JAN 27, 07:04 AM
I've seriously never seen another country cave so quickly.

He clearly thought he was going to call Trump's bluff... and obviously didn't do his homework. That president now looks like a fool to his entire population. Instead, he could have merely accepted the prisoners and said nothing. But now, the entire country questions his competency, not only for making stupid decisions, but probably pissed off the liberal side for acquiescing so quickly.
blackrams JAN 27, 09:00 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

I've seriously never seen another country cave so quickly.

He clearly thought he was going to call Trump's bluff... and obviously didn't do his homework. That president now looks like a fool to his entire population. Instead, he could have merely accepted the prisoners and said nothing. But now, the entire country questions his competency, not only for making stupid decisions, but probably pissed off the liberal side for acquiescing so quickly.



Possibly but, he's still well above our own former President, the embarrassment and loss of world status Biden brought to the US is still unmatched.


There are always lessons to be learned. Some figure out those lessons by learning from other's mistakes, some have to learn things the hard way.
Decisions always have consequences and rewards.

------------------
Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. .
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 01-27-2025).]

cliffw JAN 27, 10:42 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
- directing his administration to impose emergency 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Colombia, which will rise to 50 percent in seven days.




quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I've seriously never seen another country cave so quickly.



I believe Patrick would also think of them stupid. Patrick thinks we pay more because of tariffs.
Doug85GT JAN 27, 10:50 AM
Biden said he needed congress to give him more power to enforce the border. What a impotent incompetent idiot.
cliffw JAN 27, 10:54 AM
Doug, we are lucky he is impotent. The last thing we need is more Bidens.
Patrick JAN 27, 12:00 PM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:

Patrick thinks we pay more because of tariffs.



Don't take my word for it. Plenty of info is available out there for anyone who wishes to inform themselves.
82-T/A [At Work] JAN 27, 12:03 PM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:

I believe Patrick would also think of them stupid. Patrick thinks we pay more because of tariffs.





I mean, Patrick is super loyal to Canada... and rightfully he should be. He views the U.S. throwing it's weight around as sort of an affront to everyone else.

To that I would say, the U.S.'s problems are very much a result of failure of U.S. policy. This isn't Colombia's fault, it's the U.S.'s fault... we basically gave mixed signals... told everyone to come to America, and now we're telling them not to. So I do recognize that. We in the U.S. look at it as a "Biden screwed up bad, and Trump is fixing it..." but the rest of the world looks at it like... WTF is America doing?

And to an even lesser extent... they fear Trump simply because the media has demonized him.