Published 17:52 IST, January 27th 2025
I Don't Shake Hands With White Slavers: Colombia President Claps Back at Trump
Colombian President responded to US sanctions by saying, "I don't shake hands with white slavers," after Colombia blocked deportation flights carrying migrants.

Bogota: Colombian President Gustavo Petro fired back at US President Donald Trump , saying, "I don't shake hands with white slavers." when Trump imposed sanctions on the Latin American country after Colombia blocked deportation flights carrying migrants.
President Gustavo targeting Trump in his X post wrote, “You don't like our freedom, okay. I don't shake hands with white slavers. I shake hands with the white libertarian heirs of Lincoln and the black and white farm boys of the USA, at whose graves I cried and prayed on a battlefield, which I reached after walking the mountains of Italian Tuscany and after being saved from Covid.”
"They are the United States and before them I kneel, before no one else." Gustavo added.
"Maybe one day, over a glass of whiskey": Gustavo targets Trump
Colombia President Gustavo targeting Trump said, “Maybe one day, over a glass of whiskey, which I accept, despite my gastritis, we can talk frankly about this, but it's difficult because you consider me an inferior race and I'm not, nor is any Colombian.”
“So if you know someone who is stubborn, that's me, period. You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance, like they did with Allende. But I will die in my law, I resisted torture and I resist you. I don't want slavers next to Colombia, we already had many and we freed ourselves. What I want next to Colombia are lovers of freedom. If you can't accompany me, I'll go elsewhere. Colombia is the heart of the world and you didn't understand that, this is the land of the yellow butterflies, of the beauty of Remedios, but also of the colonels Aureliano Buendía, of which I am one, perhaps the last.” he added.
Trump imposes sanctions on Columbia
Earlier, the U.S. president had ordered visa restrictions, 25% tariffs on all Colombian incoming goods, which would be raised to 50% in one week, and other retaliatory measures sparked by President Gustavo Petro's decision to reject two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants after Petro accused Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation. Petro also announced a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump said the measures were necessary because Petro’s decision “jeopardized” national security in the U.S. by blocking the deportation flights.
Responding to the ordered sanctions by US, Gusta Petro wrote, “Your blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world. I know that you love beauty as I do, do not disrespect it and you will give it your sweetness.”
(with agency inputs)
Updated 18:08 IST, January 27th 2025