Lasso and Petro meet with a view to energy transformation and regional integration

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Guillermo Lasso, met Tuesday in Ecuador, in a meeting in which they emphasized the need to integrate the region and clean energy.

Latin America must unite “around our basic problems, almost the same. Through concrete projects that leave the word integration not only in rhetoric but in reality”, said the Colombian president.

For his part, the Ecuadorian president stated that they believe that “integration is one of the most effective paths for the well-being of our peoples, since it allows us to share our experiences in social development (…) and also allows us to address coordinated the fight against organized crime, illicit drug trafficking or illegal mining, which constitute some of the main threats to our societies”.

The leaders met in the border city of Tulcán, some 250 kilometers from the Ecuadorian capital.

The Ecuadorian also emphasized that both countries have the challenge of following the path of “environmentally sustainable” development and a “transition to clean energy”, emphasizing that this requires joint work.

“We are facing a fundamental crisis, which can take us off the face of this planet. That crisis is called the ‘Climate Crisis’. This climatic crisis was produced by an economic system, from the Industrial Revolution to date, and ended by a growth of greed, of profits, of materials, therefore, of production”, Petro pointed out.

In addition, he insisted on the need to build a clean energy trunk line that runs from Patagonia to Alaska, which, according to Petro, is key to decarbonizing the United States economy.

The meeting also focused on issues related to security and defense, considering the permanent threat that drug trafficking and extreme violence represent for the two countries, as well as infrastructure and connectivity, the environment, and economic and commercial issues.

The next meeting between the heads of state is scheduled to take place in Leticia, Colombia, on a date yet to be defined.

[Con la colaboración de Néstor Aguilera, de la VOA, desde Quito]

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