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In a short visit made this Saturday morning, the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, reiterated his country’s commitment to Colombia and highlighted several of the national actions, especially in matters of security and the fight against drugs.
Pompeo met with President Iván Duque at the Casa de Nariño, where several authorities from the two countries also attended.
The US official began by highlighting the way the National Government has watched over Colombians and Venezuelans in the midst of the pandemic and highlighted Duque’s support “for interim president Juan Guaidó and the democratic transition to a sovereign Venezuela without the evil influence of Cuba, Russia and Iran.”
“You are a true leader for the region and represent the dignity of all the peoples of the hemisphere,” Pompeo told Duque.
(Also read: ‘Very careful with causing crowds’: Duque)
On the subject of security, the US official affirmed that his country sees “that violence continues” in Colombia by “dissidents from the Farc, the Eln and other terrorist or criminal groups.”
He added that this is “unacceptable and intolerable” and said that neither are “the actions of regimes like that of (Nicolás) Maduro, which has provided safe haven, aid and shelter to these terrorists.”
Regarding the fight against drug trafficking, the Secretary emphasized that the Duque administration “has been exemplary in this regard” and that “Colombian law enforcement agencies, even in these difficult times, have increased cocaine interdictions and eradications of coca. You have eradicated 57 percent more coca crops than in previous years, ”he said.
President Iván Duque and the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, kept all the biosecurity measures.
In turn, President Duque thanked Pompeo for his visit and the “support” of the United States in the fight against narcotics.
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The Colombian president referred to the UN report on the Nicolás Maduro regime and said that this report “confirms”, through field visits by that multilaterial organization, that Maduro “is a criminal against humanity.”
“This report this week has to serve to validate what had already been announced by the Organization of American States and that is that there is a regime of systematic human rights violations, but, above all, that the head of the dictatorship he is in himself a criminal against humanity and the international community has to act, ”said Duque.
Both Pompeo and Duque spoke about the Colombia-United States Crece initiative, which is related to investment in Colombia, and highlighted the “historical” nature of bilateral relations.
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