Bogota, Colombia – On January 26 at 3:41am (08:41 GMT), a late-night social media message in Colombia sparked a diplomatic crisis.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro had taken to the platform X in the wee hours of the morning to criticise the United States for its handling of deportations. News reports had emerged that some migrants were handcuffed on board their flights.

“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro wrote. “I disallow the entry of US planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.”

His statement came as two US flights returning Colombian migrants were in midair. They were subsequently denied entry.

But critics say what happened next would be yet another stumble for Petro’s embattled administration.

In a subsequent post, Petro demanded that the migrants be returned on civilian aircraft — not military planes — and that they be “treated with the dignity a human being deserves”.

US President Donald Trump responded swiftly. He threatened to impose 25-percent tariffs on Colombian goods entering the US, an amount which would rise to 50 percent by the end of the week if the deportation flights were not accepted.

He also revoked visas for Colombian government officials and pledged economic sanctions.

While Petro initially said he would retaliate with his own tariffs against US products, he eventually backed down. Within two days, deportation flights had resumed, with migrants carried on board Colombian Air Force planes.

The Trump administration declared it a diplomatic victory. “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

But in Colombia, the fallout is more complicated. Sergio Guzmán, a political analyst and director of the Colombia Risk Analysis consultancy group, told Al Jazeera the incident was widely perceived as a black eye for Petro.

“Petro wanted to confront Trump, and it backfired badly because Petro made a big miscalculation in terms of the strength with which Trump would respond,” Guzmán said.

But still, the episode offered a vision for how Latin American leaders might respond to disagreements with the US under Trump.

“Petro was baiting Trump to respond in a significant way,” Guzmán explained.