"I'm interested in coordinating the fight against crime," Petro said on Trump's tariff negotiations.

Four days ago, the 90-day deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for countries affected by the 10 percent tariffs to negotiate bilateral agreements expired. Colombia was one of the countries that failed to secure an exemption within those three months.

Following confirmation that an agreement was not reached, President Gustavo Petro explained the reasons for the lack of fruitful negotiations. He implied that no agreement was sought and that he will respond with the same type of tariffs on imports from the United States.

"I am interested in coordinating the fight against multinational (quantum) cocaine-related crime organizations. We will reciprocate the rest," explained the president, who did not give any clues as to why he is referring to "quantum" organizations.

He also spoke about the response to deportations. "If our migrants are treated like criminals, then they will be treated the same way, except that American migrants will be treated as they deserve: as human beings," the Colombian president declared.

"Humanity has the ancestral right to move around the planet as it wishes," President Gustavo Petro concluded his message.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to impose tariffs on Colombia. Amid the crisis over the return of planes carrying deportees, he announced 50 percent tariffs on Colombian exports in late January. After negotiations that same day, the differences were resolved and the sanction was avoided.

Then, on April 5, Trump imposed tariffs on 130 countries, including Colombia. In Colombia's case, the tariffs were 10 percent. Days later, he announced he would suspend the measure for three months to attempt to reach bilateral agreements. The Gustavo Petro administration, in fact, failed to find an alternative to the new charges.

Juan Sebastian Lombo Delgado