Colombia on Monday sent two military aircraft to repatriate migrants from the United States after being forced to back down in a blazing row over deportations with President Donald Trump.President Gustavo Petro on Sunday stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States after Trump threatened Colombia with sanctions and massive tariffs for turning back two US military planeloads of deported migrants.The foreign ministry said Monday that a Colombian Air Force plane left Bogota in the afternoon with medical staff on board for the US city of San Diego to repatriate 110 Colombians. Shortly after, it announced another had left for Houston, Texas.Petro, a former guerrilla, was the first Latin American leader to defy Trump over his plans for mass deportations, vowing he would only accept migrants returned on civilian flights who were not treated “like criminals.”His announcement came amid an outcry in left-wing ally Brazil over the treatment of dozens of migrants who were flown home in handcuffs last week, prompting Brasilia to summon Washington’s top envoy Monday to explain their treatment.But the resistance of Colombia’s president quickly fizzled in the face of Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Colombian imports — despite the two countries having a free-trade agreement — and the suspension of US visa applications.Trump claimed victory Monday, telling the congressional Republicans’ annual retreat in Miami that “America is respected again.” At the event, held at a Trump-owned golf club, the president insisted that “as you saw yesterday, we’ve made it clear to every country that they will be taking back our people, that we’re sending out the criminals… the illegal aliens coming from their countries.”If countries don’t accept their migrants back “fast,” added Trump, “they’ll pay a very high economic price, and we’re going to immediately install massive tariffs, and it’ll be placed on them and other sanctions.”Petro, for his part, wrote on X that Colombians were being brought home “without being handcuffed,” adding: “This provision: dignity for deportees, will be applied to all countries that send deportations to us.”Trump’s plan for mass deportations of migrants has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America, the original home of most of the United States’ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.Since he took office a week ago, thousands of migrants have been sent back to Central and South America — but in most cases the deportations stemmed from agreements predating his return to power.- ‘Tremendous irresponsibility’ -Petro’s standoff with Trump caused an outcry in Colombia — one of the United States’ closest allies in Latin America — over what many saw as his reckless provocation of the country’s biggest trading partner.Former right-wing president Ivan Duque accused the 64-year-old of “an act of tremendous irresponsibility.”Cristian Espinal, a student who flew to Bogota from the city of Medellin for a visa appointment at the US embassy that was cancelled over the spat, told AFP he felt frustrated by Petro’s “hasty, imprudent” behavior.Trump has called off his threatened tariff hikes but said the visa measures would stay in place until the first planeload of deportees returned.While previous US administrations also routinely sent home illegal migrants, Trump has vowed to carry out the biggest deportation wave in history.In a break with his predecessors, he has also begun using military aircraft, with at least one landing in Guatemala this week.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum downplayed the impact of the operations, saying Monday that 4,000 migrants sent back over the southern US border during Trump’s first week back in office was “not a substantial increase” on the usual rate.Just over 190,000 people were deported to Mexico from January to November 2024, according to government figures, representing around 17,200 per month.Sheinbaum too is trying to avert a trade war after Trump renewed his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada unless they halted the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States.Honduras has called for an urgent meeting of leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Thursday in its capital Tegucigalpa to discuss migration issues.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent won Senate approval Monday to become US Treasury secretary, placing him at the forefront of implementing Donald Trump’s economic agenda -– which is already triggering global jitters.Bessent, a Wall Street veteran who was born and raised in South Carolina, has defended the Republican president’s tax cutting and tariff proposals while urging efforts to secure supply chains and the dollar’s global status.On Monday, he cleared a confirmation vote with a comfortable margin of 68-29, with bipartisan support.As Treasury chief, Bessent will have a hand in the administration’s tax policies and its budget, confronting the debt limit and steering plans that could lead to fresh tariffs. Mike Crapo, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said Monday that Bessent was “committed to restoring the prosperity and opportunity” seen under Trump’s leadership.But Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, warned it was unclear that Bessent would serve as a check on Trump’s economic plans, which could weigh on consumers and small businesses.Bessent, 62, has said he would back tougher sanctions on Russian oil majors as a way to end the war in Ukraine, while signaling a hawkish approach on China.Trump returned to the White House this month vowing lower taxes to aid Americans squeezed by high costs of living, and tariffs to pressure other countries to align on US concerns.The president has warned of tariffs on allies and adversaries — including major trading partners Mexico and Canada on February 1.Now all eyes are on how his Treasury chief walks the line between supporting these efforts and avoiding tensions that may roil the world economy.At his hearing, Bessent disagreed that Trump’s proposed duties on imports would be paid for domestically, noting that levies can be used in negotiations, to remedy unfair trade practices or to boost revenues.He also took aim at government spending and high budget deficits.He will have to grapple with Trump’s promised tax cuts — alongside their consequences for the US economy — as he begins his role.The Treasury Department has oversight across areas from federal finances to bank supervision. It also oversees US sanctions.- Family friend -Bessent is the first Senate-confirmed openly gay cabinet official in a Republican administration.He has been based in Charleston, South Carolina, with his husband and their two children.Bessent has known the Trump family for three decades and was friends with the president’s late brother Robert, he previously said.”I was all-in for President Trump,” he said on Trump ally Roger Stone’s radio show.Bessent attended Yale University and served as chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, the macroeconomic investment firm of liberal billionaire George Soros.In 2015, he raised capital, including $2 billion from Soros, to start his own hedge fund.More recently, Bessent said he had not spoken to Soros in years.Bessent is chief executive at Key Square Group, but has committed to resigning from the position at the hedge fund and divesting his partnership share upon confirmation.- ‘Only-in-America’ -During his confirmation hearing, Bessent recounted taking an internship in finance — a job that came with an office pullout sofa, allowing him to live in New York rent-free.”I’ve been involved in the financial markets ever since,” he told lawmakers. “My life has been the only-in-America story that I am determined to preserve for future generations.”Urging for all tools to be used “to realign the economic system to better serve the interests of working Americans,” Bessent has criticized “unfair distortions” in global trade.He previously floated the idea of Trump nominating a “shadow Fed chair” to dilute the influence of Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.But he has since dropped the idea and stated that he supports the central bank’s independence in policymaking.”President Trump is going to make his views known, as many senators did,” Bessent said in his hearing on January 16.He added that on monetary policy, the Fed’s rate-setting committee “should be independent.”