The implications of these words are easily missed. Most attention focused on the tariffs on popular Colombian exports such as coffee and cut flowers, which are easy for the average person to understand. Additional threats to restrict (or revoke) visas for members of Colombia’s government, and to conduct rigorous entry shakedowns for visiting Colombian nationals, were measures that would usually be aimed at a long-standing adversary, such as China, over some deep-seated dispute—as opposed to an economic and military partner, such as Colombia, raising a limited objection.
Colombia and the United States nearly went to war last weekend, but if you blinked, you might have missed it. Piqued by Colombia’s refusal to accept U.S. military flights bearing shackled detainees, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday posted on social media a blistering broadside of threats, including 25 percent tariffs on all Colombian exports, later upped to 50 percent after another heated exchange with Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
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