Washington, April 21 (Prensa Latina) For the President of the United States, Joe Biden, Colombia is “the key to the hemisphere,” and he told his US counterpart Gustavo Petro when he received him at the White House.
The two presidents held their first bilateral meeting since taking office the day before, and for some analysts the fact underscores the importance Washington places on its ties with Bogotá.
During the meeting, Petro called for a review of the unilateral policy toward Latin America and advocated that the region be an area of peace, making it clear to his host that he would not supply arms to Ukraine.
He also insisted on environmental issues, a point on which Biden pledged a $500 million investment in the Amazon Fund as part of the two nations’ efforts to tackle climate change.
“We need to move from a greed for fossils to an economy that doesn’t use coal or oil,” stressed the South American leader in the Oval Office, where the fight against drug trafficking in the region and the growing wave of migration across the hemisphere were also discussed.
Regarding the situation in Venezuela, Petro told the press that a high-level conference will be held in Bogotá next week, followed by talks in Mexico to revive dialogues between the Caracas government and the political opposition.
He believed that the ultimate goal is for the Venezuelan people to decide their own social and political destiny freely, without sanctions and without pressure.
The Colombian leader also urged the creation of a “grand alliance for America’s progress,” underscoring the need to expand freedom, democracy and clean energy.
Petro arrived in this capital on a five-day trip to celebrate the 200th anniversary of relations between the United States and Colombia.
During his stay here, the Colombian President held talks at the UN headquarters in New York and at the Organization of American States; He also met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the Capitol.
The United States is Colombia’s largest trade and investment partner, with significant investments in the mining and manufacturing sectors.
There are eight Pentagon military bases in the South American nation that have operated with complete impunity in previous administrations in the Casa de Nariño as part of the systematic and ongoing aggression against Venezuela.