Washington, Mar 28 (EFE).- A meeting between the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, is a “very interesting and logical” possibility, the charge d’affaires of the US Embassy said on Tuesday. in the South American country, Francisco Palmieri.
The diplomat, however, explained that it will be up to the White House to decide when and how to invite the Colombian president.
Palmieri made these statements to the press at the conclusion of the High-Level Dialogue between the United States and Colombia in Washington, which over the past two days has brought together two large delegations from both countries headed by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva.
“The possibility is very interesting, very logical after such a successful High-Level Dialogue,” said the diplomat when asked if they discussed an eventual meeting of heads of state.
This is the tenth High-Level Dialogue between the United States and Colombia, but the first since Gustavo Petro became President of the South American country, who has wanted to rethink the relationship with Washington, especially in terms of drugs, emphasizing that the fight against the drug trade has failed.
In this regard, Palmieri said that two “friendly” countries such as the United States and Colombia can “discuss their differences” without this being “a problem.”
“I would say that it is an opportunity to improve cooperation between the two countries and to understand that this new government has its own approach and we must adapt to support its lines of effort,” he declared.
The US diplomat avoided assessing the reestablishment of relations between the Colombia of Petro and the Government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
In addition, he said that he is not “aware of any type of concern” that Colombia would be sharing sensitive information from US intelligence with Maduro.
Questioned about the declarations of support for the Cuban government by the Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, Palmieri recalled that the United States considers the island as “a non-democratic regime that has violated the rights of its people.”
“We can discuss the different perspectives on it,” he said.
The High Level Dialogue consisted of various working groups on economic matters, the fight against drug trafficking, the environment, education, mining, human rights and migration, among others, who agreed to review their progress every three months.
