The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has called for an "emergency" meeting of member states after the tariff standoff between the United States and Colombia on Sunday. "Migration" and "Latin American and Caribbean unity" are two of the three topics listed on the agenda, the other one being "Environment."
The meeting was called by Honduran President Xiomara Castro, the bloc's current holder of the rotational presidency. It will take place on Thursday morning, with Castro already confirming that Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who had requested the meeting amid the confrontation with the Trump administration, will take part in it.
"I will personally head to Honduras to help in the meeting of Latin American presidents. It hasn't been informed yet but I will take the presidency of the CELAC in a matter of weeks," Petro said in a post on Sunday.
Even though the standoff ended on Sunday night after Colombia accepted receiving deported nationals, the confrontation sent shockwaves through the regional geopolitical landscape as Donald Trump swiftly announced tariffs and sanctions against Colombia for refusing to receive deportees.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presented a complaint before the Trump administration over the conditions of the deportation flight of dozens of Brazilians returned to the country. He will hold a meeting on Monday to decide whether to attend the CELAC meeting on Thursday.
"A request for explanations will be submitted to the U.S. government about the degrading treatment the flight passengers were subjected to," the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said on X. Infobae reported that after landing in the Brazilian city of Manaos to refuel, the airplane's air conditioning system experienced malfunctioning, which led passengers to rise up. Some of them even opened the emergency door and walked through the wing in protest.
"Not even a dog deserved to be treated like this," a deportee said after landing. "I spent 50 hours in handcuffs without proper meals. I haven't showered in five days," he added.
Other Latin American countries are seemingly taking a different approach. One of them is El Salvador, which is reportedly negotiating a deal with the Trump administration to receive deportees from third countries, CBS News reported.
Concretely, the governments are working on an agreement for the Central American nation to be designated as a "safe third country." It would entail it taking migrants from other countries and prevent them from requesting asylum in the U.S.
Originally published on Latin Times