Trump revenge

Colombia turned back 2 deportation flights.  Trump responded.

Things are going to get far out of hand far too quickly.

UPDATE 07:09 am:  Looks like the bullying worked.

Colombia’s foreign ministry released a statement soon afterward that said “we have overcome the impasse with the United States government.” It said the government would accept all deportation flights and “guarantee dignified conditions” for those Colombians on board.

[Gustavo] Petro began the day by announcing that he had turned back U.S. military planes carrying deported immigrants. This set off a furious back and forth with Mr. Trump, who in turn announced a barrage of tariffs and sanctions targeting the country, which has long been a top U.S. ally in Latin America.

Mr. Trump said on social media that the United States would immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian imports and would raise them to 50 percent after a week. The Trump administration would also “fully impose” banking and financial sanctions on Colombia, apply a travel ban on Colombian government officials and their associates, and revoke their visas, the president said.

Mr. Petro hit back on social media. In one post, he announced retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on U.S. imports to Colombia; in another, longer post, he said those tariffs would hit 50 percent.

Directly addressing Mr. Trump, Mr. Petro also questioned whether the American president was trying to topple him.

“You don’t like our freedom, fine,” Mr. Petro said. “I do not shake hands with white enslavers.”

The clash reflected how Mr. Trump was ready to make an example out of Colombia as countries around the world grapple with how to prepare for the mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants that he has promised.

[...]

Early on Friday, Guatemala received two U.S. Air Force jets carrying around 160 deportees in total, making it one of the first countries to publicly receive such flights.

Officials in Mexico, the source of the largest number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, have said that they remained open to receiving deported citizens. Routine deportations have taken place to Mexican cities along the U.S. border in recent days.

[...]

Honduras, which like Colombia has pushed back against the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations, has said that it has not yet explicitly been asked by U.S. officials, but that it is open to receiving military flights.

  NYT

The arguments all seem to be, not over receiving deportees, but the manner of deporting them on military flights. The whole world is insane.

Fucking nuts.  Is this so people have to go to his social media site?

"Columbia"

Finally, a sensible approach to migration

Mexico and the United States on Wednesday announced a joint plan to send development and agricultural aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to alleviate the root causes of migration from those countries.

Under the plan, dubbed “Sembrando Oportunidades,” or “Planting Opportunities,” both countries will work through their own agencies, the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to address irregular migration from northern Central America.

USAID said in a press release that the two agencies will "plan to coordinate our development resources and expertise to help citizens of northern Central America build prosperous futures in their home communities."

The efforts are set to begin in Honduras, where the agencies will "plan to provide youth with skills and experience that can lead to long-term employment, reducing the risk of irregular migration," Amexcid said in a press release.

[...]

"Both Mexico and the United States have committed resources to this effort and both agencies have begun to coordinate."

  The Hill

While I applaud the approach, I don't imagine it will be nearly enough, and I hope they have some mechanism in place to combat the corruption that will inevitably divert funds to administrators.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Did we not change administrations?

Kamala Harris is telling Guatemalans not to come here.  DOJ is defending Trump in a civil lawsuit.  State Dept is backing Trump's anti-Cuba policy.  And...

President Biden on Monday announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will continue to defend a law that excludes Puerto Ricans from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, while calling on Congress to extend eligibility to the U.S. territory's residents.

Biden said the Justice Department will be adhering to its practice of defending the constitutionality of federal law in the legal challenge against a provision in the Social Security Act that excludes Puerto Rico residents from the program, which provides income for low-income citizens with disabilities.

"This provision is inconsistent with my Administration’s policies and values," Biden said in a statement. "However, the Department of Justice has a longstanding practice of defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, regardless of policy preferences. This practice is critical to the Department’s mission of preserving the rule of law. Consistent with this important practice, the Department is defending the constitutionality of the Social Security Act provision in this case."

  The Hill

Statehood for Puerto Rico.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The "anti-corruption" president

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Bully with threats

Human rights groups, activists and former officials in Guatemala have expressed fierce opposition to a controversial migration deal signed by the country's government and the United States.

The agreement was struck on Friday, days after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on the Central American country if it did not enter into a so-called "safe third country" agreement that would have required it to host more asylum seekers.

Opponents to the agreement decried the country's inability to address the needs of its citizens as a reason why Guatemala - a country that has seen thousands of its citizens attempt to reach the US fleeing poverty, violence and poor economic conditions - would be unable to take asylum seekers.

[...]

The agreement, however, must still be approved by Guatemala's Congress, which is currently in recess until August. It is unclear if it will receive the backing it requires.

[...]

While the US side has referred to the deal as a "third safe country" agreement, the government of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has refrained from calling it as such. The Morales administration issued a statement saying the deal would apply to citizens from Honduras and El Salvador.

[...]

As a result of insecurity and poverty, thousands of Guatemalans have attempted migrating to the US in recent years.

[...]

According to the Guatemalan Health Ministry, cases of malnutrition increased by 36 percent in 2019. Yet many cases go unreported, groups that work in the country say.

Poverty has also risen in recent years, with nearly 60 percent of the population living in poverty, according to World Bank figures.

[...]

Claudia Samayoa, the founder and director of Udefegua, a human rights group in Guatemala, called the agreement "illegal", saying Guatemala did not meet the conditions required for a "third safety country" under international law.

"The Guatemalan state cannot guarantee security, or economic security, or even social security for its citizens," she told Al Jazeera.

  alJazeera

I don't get it, myself. How can Guatemala take in asylum seekers when so many of its citizens are seeking asylum from there?

"Guatemala has very clear responsibility," said Enrique Degenhart, the Guatemalan interior minister who signed the agreement at the White House.

"It is clear that changes must be made and the way to do it is to work with our best ally."

Trump is threatening sanctions on a country already in dire straits simply for not doing his bidding.  If we are your best ally, you are in serious trouble, my friend.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

He can't get over it

Women he can't grab by the pussy.



"She say."

Don't back down, Minnesota.  He "almost" won. 

He's really feeling nervous about tomorrow.  (Mueller testimony.)



Maybe she has reading comprehension problems.  Whoever she is.





If you were "ready to go," then you didn't actually have a deal for them to break.



Which may help explain why you don't have a deal with them.  And why there are going to be more Guatemalans leaving their country for a better life.



Perhaps we should ask the farmers how they're doing.



Is that a Fox poll?

He's had a rough morning.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Why make sense when you can stir up a shitstorm?

The United States is cutting off aid to the "Northern Triangle," otherwise known as the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the State Department told CNN Saturday, one day after President Donald Trump said they had "set up" migrant caravans for entry into the United States.

  CNN

Or, via Fox:

I guess she feels like a fool now.  (She is one.)

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Caravan report

click graphic for reporting

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The caravan of refugees has reached the Mexican border

https://twitter.com/AC360/status/1053450514778603522





Disgusting pig.

He's been throwing around the word "baby" again a lot lately.  "I'm not a baby."  "Now I say they're babies."  I wonder if it has anything to do with this:

Even more likely, this. He hates Joe Scarborough:

The baby issue:

Guatemala's president is named Jimmy Morales??

Israel has praised Guatemala’s president, Jimmy Morales, for following the lead of Donald Trump in announcing plans to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

  Guardian

How many espcaped Nazis went to Guatemala?

After speaking with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Morales wrote to Guatemalans on his Facebook page that “one of the most important topics was the return of Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem” from Tel Aviv where it is currently located.

Oh, yeah. I bet that's been on every Guatemalan's mind and at the top of their priority list for years.

The move is unlikely to have any significant impact, however, in international diplomacy or around Israel.

Ya think?

Morales, like Trump, was a television personality with no real political experience before becoming president of Guatemala in 2016.

Russia have anything to do with that?

Morales is an evangelical Christian.

Might have guessed.

Among other Latin American countries lobbied heavily around the time of Trump’s announcement, the Guardian understands, was Costa Rica, which has declined to follow suit.

Let me guess. Costa Rica's president is NOT an evangelical Christian.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

We've Had a Lot of Jokers in the Job Ourselves

Television comic and self-styled outsider Jimmy Morales has been elected as Guatemala’s next president, riding a wave of popular anger against the political class after huge anti-corruption protests helped oust the last government.

  Guardian