The governments of the United States and Colombia held a meeting on Friday in Washington DC in which they discussed the different ways of cooperation on military issues, confrontation with drug trafficking, security and human rights.
The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, received his counterpart, Minister Diego Molano, at the Pentagon, whom he thanked “for everything the Colombian Ministry of Defense does to promote security in the Western Hemisphere and throughout the world. world”.
Last March, both governments celebrated at the White House the centuries of bilateral relations in which President Joe Biden received the Colombian president Ivan Duke.
Secretary Austin stressed the importance of Biden’s intention to designate Colombia as a “strategic ally” outside NATO.
“I want to thank you for Colombia’s strong conduct in condemning Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and for Colombia’s offer to provide humanitarian support to the Ukrainian people,” Lloyd said before the meeting.
Meanwhile, Molano argued that the bicentennial celebration is based “on partnership and defense cooperation” between the two nations.
Molano, speaking of the role of Colombia due to its closeness to NATO, expressed: “Under this designation, we plan to deepen our ties and explore new areas of cooperation, such as Research, Defense Development.”
Colombia’s aid to the thousands of people who arrive in the country as refugees, its defense of democracy and efforts to protect the environment were also announced as part of the agenda between the two high-ranking officials.
Colombia will hold its presidential elections on Sunday, May 29, in which the left-wing candidate, Gustavo Petro, and the right-wing candidate, Federico Gutiérrez, will face each other.
* Some of the information for this report came from the AP agency and the US Department of Defense.
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