Two Colombian military planes with some 200 nationals expelled from the United States arrived in Bogota on Tuesday after a blazing row with Donald Trump over migrant deportations, the South American country's president said.
On social media, Gustavo Petro posted photographs of the migrants disembarking without handcuffs, and wrote: "They are Colombians, free and dignified, and in their homeland where they are loved."
"The migrant is not a criminal but a human being who wants to work and progress, live life."
Petro on Sunday stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States after Trump threatened Colombia with sanctions and massive tariffs for turning back two US military planes carrying deported migrants.
The planes were refused after Petro took umbrage at the treatment meted out to Brazilians expelled from the United States and flown home in handcuffs last week.
Petro said he would only accept migrants who were not treated "like criminals."
Bogota sent two military planes Monday with medical staff on board to fetch its nationals in the cities of San Diego and Houston.
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