Mike Pompeo meets with Iván Duque in Bogotá with a focus on regional security, drug trafficking and the crisis in Venezuela

The US Secretary of State, Mike pompeo, meets with the Colombian president, Ivan Duque, to deal with matters that go from the fight against drug trafficking to Venezuelan migration.

Pompeo, who is ending a South American tour in Colombia, arrived from the Brazilian city of Boa Vista, capital of the Amazonian state of Roraima, where he met with that country’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araújo.

This Saturday he is received at the Casa de Nariño by Duque for a meeting in which they review matters of common interest, such as regional security, the fight against drug trafficking, Venezuelan migration and even the management of the coronavirus pandemic, the Colombian Government reported.

Pompeo’s visit comes two days after the president of the United States, Donald trump, send the Secretary of State a memorandum evaluating the commitment of 22 countries, including Colombia, in the fight against drug trafficking.

Trump stressed that Duque and his government “remain staunch allies of the United States”, While highlighting the work of the Police and the Military Forces to intercept shipments of alkaloids and eradicate crops manually.

“Nevertheless, coca cultivation and cocaine production remain unacceptably high.”, Highlighted the president, who insisted that in order to be more effective in the fight against drugs,“Colombia must resume aerial eradication”, In reference to the sprays from the air with the herbicide glyphosate, suspended since 2015.

“One of the main points of the binational meeting is to advance the strategy Colombia grows, announced on August 17, and that among its objectives seeks to attract US investment to Colombia and allocate more than 5,000 million dollars to development in rural areas, “said the Presidency.

A month ago, when presenting that strategy in Bogotá, the US National Security Advisor, Robert O’Briensaid that it is a program “marking a new era of partnership between our two great countries”.

In his meeting with Duque and part of his ministerial cabinet, Pompeo is accompanied by the Undersecretary of State for Energy Resources, Francis R. Fannon; the person in charge of Latin America in the State Department, Michael Kozak, and the ambassador in Bogotá, Philip Goldberg.

Once the meeting is over, Pompeo and Duque will give a statement to the press, after which the Secretary of State will return to his country.

The Secretary of State’s Latin American tour began with a historic visit to Suriname and Guyana, after which he moved to Brazil before traveling to Colombia.

(With information from EFE)

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