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Bulletins and News Discussion from January 27th to February 2nd, 2025 - Tariffs in Trump's Imperium - COTW: Colombia

Image is of Colombian President Gustavo Petro giving a speech at the UN in 2022.

Trump has arrived in office with the force of an avalanche; ending slowing a genocide on the one hand, while simultaneously promising a total nightmare for minorities and the poor throughout and outside the United States on the other hand. [edited for clarity; I do not actually think Trump has ended the Palestinian genocide obviously, I was making a joke - but the ceasefire is a genuine improvement in conditions for millions of people right now who are on the edge of death, so it cannot be dismissed]

It's still far too early to truly compare and contrast his imperial strategy with Biden's, but initial signs show that there does appear to be somewhat of a reorientation. Biden was famous for being two-faced; ostensibly offering aid and stability, while also blowing up your pipeline to ensure you did not actually have an alternative to his idea. Trump, meanwhile, seems only really capable of aggression, threatening several "allied" nations with what may as well be sanctions because of the economic harm they'd do. I suspect we'll be debating for a long time how much of this can be attributed to the specific characteristics of Trump, or whether he merely embodies the zeitgeist of imperial decline - a wounded empire lashing out with extreme violence to try and convince everybody, including themselves, that they can still be the world imperialist hegemon.

I'll admit it: I did not believe that Trump would actually try and go ahead with putting tariffs on basically anybody who annoys him. And while the threat could still be empty in regards to countries like China and Canada, Colombia is the first indication of the potential of his strategy. Despite some fiery words from President Petro, after Trump's administration revealed the punishment if Colombia did not agree, it appears that Colombia will in fact be accepting deported migrants after all. It's funny how that works.

Last week's thread is here. The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

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  • Update on the deportation flights situation: The fourth deportation flight using a US military aircraft took place today, and to a different country than before. Flight RCH141, a C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft, left from El Paso, Texas; and landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The flight notably avoided Mexican airspace. Ecuador has become the lastest country to allow for the United States to conduct deportation flights using US military aircraft, and has given in to the US demands on this issue without any resistance.

    So for a general overview of the situation, I'll break it down into four categories:

    Countries that have allowed the United States to conduct deportation flights to them directly using US military aircraft without any resistance:

    • Guatemala
    • Ecuador

    Countries that allow the United States to use their airspace to conduct deportations using US military aircraft to other countries, but have not accepted US military deportation flights themselves:

    • Costa Rica
    • Nicaragua
    • Honduras
    • Belize (on a return flight from Guatemala towards the United States)

    Countries that put up resistance to deportation flights using US military aircraft, but appear to have given in to US demands on this issue according to the latest White House statement, though this remains to be seen:

    • Colombia

    Countries that do not allow the United States to use their airspace for US military aircraft deportation flights and have not accepted US military aircraft deportation flights themselves, but do allow the United States to use their airspace for civilian aircraft deportation flights to other countries:

    • México.
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