By Cristian Montenegro and Sebastian Fonseca in PLOS Global Public Health, 14 Feb 2025
“Colombia, stop looking north; look to the world.” These are some of the words used by Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, in response to U.S. president Donald Trump’s economic threats— themselves a reaction to Petro’s initial refusal to accept U.S. military planes carrying deported Colombian migrants in inhumane conditions. It captures a broader truth that extends far beyond Colombia, migration, and trade, compelling us to confront a more profound question: How should the world respond when a single country’s power and influence are so deeply embedded in global structures that its actions can destabilise entire systems?
Nowhere is this imbalance more immediately apparent than in global health. President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States (U.S.) from the World Health Organization (WHO) has sparked widespread concern and condemnation across the global health community. Combined with the suspension of PEPFAR, and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the main overseas aid agency responsible for administering humanitarian assistance globally, these actions threaten to disrupt essential programmes upon which millions of lives and livelihoods depend.
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