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The United States diplomat held a conclave at the Casa de Nariño on Monday with Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez. There they reaffirmed the friendly ties that Washington had previously maintained with Bogotá. There were points in common regarding the drug policy as well as avoiding the persecution of the peasantry. He also supported the Peace Agreements and the thaw in relations between Colombia and Venezuela; but discrepancies in matters such as the situation in Cuba or extraditions.
The turn that Colombia took to the left after the last elections did not go unnoticed by the United States, with whom it has had very good relations in recent years, to the point of having been named the nation’s greatest ally outside of NATO. .
To update the links with the new Administration of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez, the Secretary of State of the North American country, Antony Blinken, visited Bogotá on Monday to meet face to face with the new authorities and set the itineraries of bilateral relations.
In this sense, the first stop on Blinken’s tour of productive Latin America, reaching points of agreement on urgent matters such as the fight against drug trafficking and the new aspect of drug policy, one of the key points of the new Administration Colombian. Discrepancies, however, arose on issues such as extradition.
Blinken stated at a press conference held at the Presidency headquarters that they have “many points in common in practically all the problems to be addressed” and highlighted the “comprehensive” policy outlined in the fight against drugs.
The Petro Administration’s approach aims to persecute criminals, obviously, but also to help peasants find alternative crops so that they do not resort to illicit ones; while also aiming to defend the environment and reduce demand.
The Colombian president remarked to the US diplomat that they will no longer forcefully eradicate crop fields with glyphosate, a chemical that has been shown to be harmful to health. The reason that he alleged is that “it criminalizes the peasants who produce coca leaves.”
In addition, he asked the Washington representative for collaboration to increase surveillance of the drug that leaves Colombia by air and water; and an increase in intelligence to capture drug leaders.
In another area, there was strong support from Blinken for the Peace Agreements signed in Colombia in 2016. In an act at the Fragmentos Museum in Bogotá, the Secretary of State signed the US support for the defense of the rights of indigenous and Afro-Colombians .
Blinken stressed that this is “a vision that the United States supports” and highlighted the commitment of the Petro-Márquez binomial in the “full implementation” of the same, a pending issue left by the previous government, led by the conservative Iván Duqye.
The Colombian vice president expressed that it was not yet possible to “silence all the bullets.” “I cannot be here as a black woman and a victim without reaffirming our commitment to peace,” added Vice President Márquez, a lawyer and victim of the armed conflict.
The reactivation of relations with Venezuela
In recent weeks, the rapprochement between Colombia and the government of Nicolás Maduro has crystallized, resurfacing ties between the two South American nations through the reopening of the border after seven years between total and partial closures. This was good news for Blinken.
The United States wants the Petro Executive to play a leading role in influencing Caracas and to resume talks between the ruling party and the opposition, an issue that has not advanced despite Washington’s insistence.
“Our hope for Venezuela is that the Maduro regime and the united platform can carry out a dialogue that reaches the necessary conditions to have free elections,” he said.
In addition, he highlighted the temporary protection status that Venezuelan refugees have in Colombia, the country that has received the most migrants, reaching the figure of 2.6 million in the last five years. The United States considered it an example to follow for the other nations in the region, amid the controversies over the management of the Biden Government with the migrants who cross the border with Mexico.
Counterpoints in extradition and Cuba
Among the disagreements that arose in the meeting between Blinken and Petro, the change in extradition policy proposed by Colombia stands out. The leftist stated that those who avail themselves of the Colombian justice system and give “guarantees of non-repetition” will not be extradited and will have a new opportunity.
The Secretary of State, who sentenced respect for “sovereign decisions”, remarked that the policy in the area that was applied for decades has been beneficial for both territories.
In addition, Petro criticized the fact that the United States still keeps Cuba on the list of countries that promote terrorism, a place it entered at the request of Duque for hosting the negotiators of the war of the National Liberation Army, a guerrilla group with which the Petro Executive has announced the restart of the dialogues.
Despite the fact that Petro classified it as “an injustice” because Havana hosted the peace negotiations at the request of Juan Manuel Santos, Blinken maintained that the justification is based on “clear criteria, clear laws and clear requirements.”
After the agreements and some discrepancy in Colombia, the Secretary of State will travel to Santiago de Chile to meet with Gabriel Boric. Later he will do the same course to Lima to meet with Pedro Castillo and attend the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS).
with EFE
