During Trump’s time Colombia was facing uninterested understanding of political and economical relations with the United States. The change in the presidency in 2017 coincided with the Colombian internal struggles which hampered the US-Colombia relationship even more. Even after international collaboration in the economy, security, and the drug war, there was already established skepticism with the transition from Bush to Obama. Trump’s policies had only made conflicts over international trade, immigration, and other challenging issues worse.
Dynamics of US-Colombia Relations and Its Historical Context US Colombia relationships have always been cordial since its inception. The US has remained a key player in Columbia’s struggle against drug cartels, terrorism, guerilla warfare, and organized crime. In return, Columbia has worked closely with the US in Latin American counter-terrorism and free trade and mid level stability. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the US assisted Columbia with ‘Plan Collar’ which was mainly aimed at fighting drug trafficking and insurgency.
During trump administration, these two nations like many other areas in America had a few hiccups. Similarly to many parts of middle southern America, Columbia during the civil war period was severely reprimanded for the increased human rights violations that occurred. During the trump presidency, like the previous periods, there was an increase in interest on US Colombia relations and trade, as well as the immigration issues to the US. Because of these reasons, US Colombian relations and trade began to grow strained.
How Immigration Policies From Trump’s Presidency Had An Impact On Colombia
There is most certainly a debate or at least a conversation around Trump’s immigration policy and his bans on immigration. One of those policies which there was little doubt in the mind of Trump regarding which he, during the course of his sympathy was able to manage other than 3 Asylum Seekers per month, was reducing the number of asylum seekers. Even then in the broadest context, it was apparent that there very few concessions made by him, which trumped was issued in immigration bans was in fact issued on hoary guidelines. I TRUMPED: Multi-Perspective Analyzing America First was Immigration Policies.
Now under Trump, the American attachment to mass deportations of Colombian migrants and other civilians accelerated exponentially. But this discussed backlash never seemed to makes much sense given how intertwined the US and Colombian economies were. The strategic measures adopted during the Obama Administration shifted towards skin or shirt attacks on killer democrats. The switch to Trump’s presidency simply saw the mass deportation of undocumented migrants that were previously detained. The borders loosened post the violent years, economic recovery, and unconditioned violence. Literal hoards of Colombians began seeking Amwrican shores for new employment opportunities. Considering a large portion of those individuals had spent decades in the states, their sudden deportation served as a rallying call for many frustrated Colombians.
Trump placed Latin Americans in a box and stripped them of their individual importance. This enabled him to reduce the immigration question into a more simplistic tale of border control. These strips like “illegal,” “undocumented immigrant,” or “makeshift aid workers” only served to further perpetuate the problem, and his reputation amongst Latin Americans did not improve in the slightest. The use of the term “aid workers” was nothing but sheer discrimination, and did not aid his standing amongst the international community and definitely worsened the diplomatic relations between the countries.
The Colombian Trade Dispute
The relations that most Bolivian trade intermediaries dealing with Bolivia had with Colombia after the Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement CTPA was signed in 2012 are clearly cordial. This agreement was beneficial for Columbia and the US which led to lifting of tax on many of the goods. His term witnessed an even lift on whether such trade relations or agreements will be obtained.
What has been called America r’s first policies had overreaching repercussions. From my viewpoint, such policies prioritized s America’s business sector over all other trading allies. This message also provoked fears in Colombia which is the first exporter of oil, coffee, and coal, because the concentration that America put on the country meant that there was a likelihood of trade tariffs and other limitations. Americans first trade policies to Colombia meant that, with the promise of even more tariffs on goods and changes in trade deals with Mexico, a whole lot of Latin American nations were left out of the equation. Colombia, considered a key US ally, was about to take the hit.
The US government also increased its expectations from Colombia to cut down drug trade and production during Trump’s presidency. Trump’s open statements about Colombia put the government in a position that was difficult to bridge especially during times when he instructed them to control drug production, with more emphasis than usual. Such instructions arrived at a time when the Colombian government was dealing with several internal problems like addressing social inequality and dealing with the implementation of peace with the FARC guerillas.
American Policy and its Effect on Latin American Relationships
The passage explains how Trump had, and continues to have, an ‘America First’ attitude where he tended to focus less on global or regional politics and in particular, Latin America. It also points out that Trump did not make diplomatic relations with Colombia a priority and instead, pulled back from a lot of political engagement in the area.
Until Trump was elected to office, there were certain issues that Colombia had with Venezuela at the American level. For example, Venezuela as the US had officially poured aid and support on Opposition Leader Juan Guaidо, who was even declared an interim president. However, there was moderate sympathy among Colombian for Lieutenant Guaidо, who was in favor of negotiations and regional diplomacy. So this policy divergence created some political distance between Cohen’s government and the Trump office especially when the US was getting more and more divided on how much to confront and oppose Maduro’s regime. After all, it turns out that Colombia was leading the charge in protecting democracy in the region while Washington did very little.
In addition to this, Trump’s engagement was rather inclined to China, North Korea, as well as domestic issues over Mexico or even South America. For some reason, the policies of his administration towards these countries appeared to be rather inactive. This, however, annoyed a lot of people in Colombia since their efforts to cooperate and support the American war against terrorism and narcotics proved to be in vain.
Relations between the US and Columbia during the terms of Trump and Joe Biden
There is no question that the state of affairs between the United States and Trump’s presidency and Joe Biden’s presidency is markedly different. Subsequently, and later on, there will be some changes to increases benefits. During that time, there were attempts to shut the Latino American doors for US diplomacy which rendered the relations with Trump’s presidency as apathetic. While the case with immigration is also clear, those who are fleeing from the southern war are given asylum. But, there was also a huge rage directed to Republicans during his presidency which makes immigration tendencies very unlikely. Towards the end of his presidency, there was significant disregard to diplomacy.
Even so, globalization is an ever-present wound on the identity of both Colombia and the Americans. The aforementioned sequences of events led to excessive lack of trust and changing that, well, is utterly impossible. The donkey will work till it dies, but on one side it will be injured – this phrase perfectly summarizes Colombia’s situation. They are attempting to understand how to cope with the most revolting Trump era term while trying to cloak themselves in a manner that will enable them to live on in the world.
Despite these difficulties, the Trump administration escalated preestablished problems regarding immigration, trade, and Colombian international relations. In those international landscapes, Colombia seeks to enhance its standing amidst a more vigorous world whether it be under Biden or subsequent presidents.
Conclusion
It is important to highlight the broad and deep relationship that existed between Colombia and the United States, even if during Trump’s presidency their policies on immigration, trade, and international relationships created problems. The matters that were created during the Trump Administration were only one chapter in the larger story; one that had elements of Strife, collaboration, and self-seeking. Colombia, under Biden and beyond intends to handle the gleeful relationship with the US as one that, by nature, is beneficial for pursuing their endeavours and scrutizining the changing world.
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