Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva during high-level dialogue with Foreign Minister Antony Blinken at Washington POOL (Portal)
Relations between Colombia and the United States, two close allies, entered a new era with the rise to power of Gustavo Petro. Among other things, the Colombian president is obsessed with rethinking an anti-drugs policy that he believes has failed, as he has reiterated in various international forums. However, Bogotá is determined not to give the Joe Biden administration any “surprises”. This was expressed by Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken this Monday at the opening of the first high-level dialogue between the two countries in Washington since the left-wing leader occupied the Casa de Nariño.
The Colombian government wants to lead the response to global challenges like the climate crisis “another of Petro’s foreign policy obsessions,” Leyva said in his statements. “There’s a new head of state making a new speech, but that’s not surprising. There will never be a surprise on our part in relations with our usual ally, the United States of America,” affirmed the head of Colombian diplomacy, leading a delegation of more than 50 officials. “We were the land of coca. Today we are one of the great sponges to solve the possible disappearance of humanity on the planet. We are saving the planet,” he added, referring to the Amazon, echoing the environmental discourse Petro himself has shown in his major interventions abroad, be it before the UN General Assembly, the climate summit in Egypt or the Davos World Economic Forum.
The Colombian president, part of the region’s wave of left-wing governments, has emphasized new incorporation on the subcontinent without sacrificing the privileged relationship with the White House historically cultivated by one of his most staunch allies. In particular, the anti-drug policy reversal he has proposed has sparked debates about the prudence of not abandoning eradication efforts amid a policy adjustment. Also noisy backups. The fight against drug trafficking needs sweeping changes, of the kind that have been called for by Petro since the failure of prohibition policies, world leaders grouped in the Global Commission on Drug Policy, among others, have recognized. The Colombian government broadly intends to supply oxygen to the weakest links in the chain, such as farmers and coca leaf growers, while smothering human traffickers, money launderers and mafias. Colombia is the world’s leading producer of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, and the United States is the main consumer.
For his part, Blinken pointed out that Colombia and the United States are “vibrant democracies” that are better off “confronting global challenges together,” while recalling that the fight against drug cartels is a key element of cooperation between the two may be . Countries. While pointing to a “comprehensive approach” that is reducing consumption in the United States, he also stressed the need to increase land and sea seizures and provide alternatives to coca farmers in Colombia.
President Biden has a long history with Colombia, a country he likes to call the “cornerstone” of Washington’s foreign policy in Latin America. As a Delaware congressman, he was one of the major promoters of the anti-drug and counterinsurgency alliance articulated around Plan Colombia earlier this century. Subsequently, as Vice President of Barack Obama during the administration of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), he supported the peace agreement with the extinct FARC guerrillas, which Petro wants to implement with renewed vigour. The United States has even announced that it will support the implementation of the agreements’ ethnic chapter, one of the most backward. However, the total peace policy, which seeks new negotiations with various armed groups, including drug gangs, could lead to new tensions between the two governments.
In addition to being a historic ally, Colombia is vital to the White House because of its role in the strategy against Venezuela in general and the Venezuelan diaspora in particular. Restoring relations with Caracas, which have been completely severed since 2019, is one of the axes of the new Colombian foreign policy. The foreign minister also referred to the regional migratory crisis, describing Bogotá as a “crucial partner” and praising the temporary status it has granted to Venezuelan migrants — with 2.9 million Venezuelans on its territory, it is by far the most important receiving country. “Colombia has shown that managing immigration safely can enhance the region’s stability and pose more of an opportunity than a burden,” he said. Colombian diplomacy intends to convene an international summit on anti-drug policy and another on migration in the coming months.
Newsletter
Current affairs analysis and the best stories from Colombia, delivered to your inbox every week
GET THIS
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS newsletter on Colombia and receive all the latest information about the country.