On Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken began a tour of Latin America to fight drug trafficking in Colombia.
Blinken will meet on Monday in Bogota with Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing president.
After Colombia, the US Secretary of State will head to Chile and Peru, where two leftist presidents have also recently been elected.
But in Colombia, Petro’s policy of making peace with left-wing armed groups and drug traffickers on the condition that they lay down their arms and stop their illegal activities contrasts sharply with that of his predecessor, Ivan Duque, who had good relations with the United States.
A senior US State Department official said: “We have a common approach in this regard,” adding: “Law enforcement and security, from our point of view, are necessary components in dealing with this file, but they are not enough.”
“We have to deal more effectively with the root causes of this,” he added.
Blinken’s visit, whose country has lately focused more on Asia and the war in Ukraine, appears partly to allay any fears that the United States is neglecting its Latin American allies.
Blinken’s tour comes one day after the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, which saw a fierce rivalry between right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and former left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The second round of the presidential election will take place in Brazil on October 30, after Bolsonaro performed better than expected against Lula, who, according to polls, can achieve a big victory in the first round.
On Sunday, amid speculation that Bolsonaro might not accept the results if he loses the election, Blinken said the United States “shares Brazil’s confidence that the runoff will be held in the same spirit of peace and civic duty.”
Blinken’s tour also follows a prisoner exchange between the United States and Venezuela, reflecting a cautious improvement in relations between the two countries despite Washington’s refusal to recognize Nicolás Maduro’s 2018 re-election as Venezuelan president.
“We’ve never had such a strong relationship with this hemisphere,” Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols told reporters Friday.
“We judge countries not by their position on the political spectrum, but by their commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” he added.
While in Bogotá on Monday and Tuesday, on his second visit to Colombia since receiving the foreign portfolio, Blinken will discuss with Petro drug smuggling and its impact on safety, health and the environment, as well as immigration.
U.S. officials described Colombia’s protection of migrants fleeing poverty and instability as “a model for the region”.
When Petro became president in August, U.S. officials said they were willing to negotiate “open and frank” with him about the U.S.-backed war on drugs. Petro, for his part, believed that these efforts had failed and instead called for efforts to reduce the demand for cocaine in developed countries.
Colombia, which has survived decades of civil war fueled by drug trafficking, is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, with the United States its main market.
On Wednesday, the US Secretary of State travels to Santiago, where he will meet with leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 36, who took office in March last year.
Blinken ends his tour in Lima, which he visits on Thursday and Friday to meet Socialist President Pedro Castillo, who belongs to the radical left and has been the subject of several investigations for alleged corruption and abuse of power since he took office. . than a year ago.
Blinken will also attend the annual General Assembly of the Organization of American States.
The General Assembly will consider a resolution calling for an end to “Russian aggression against Ukraine” although some Latin American countries have expressed reservations, as well as resolutions on human rights violations in Nicaragua and the dire economic and political situation in Haiti.
Blinken will discuss Washington’s concerns about democracy, immigration, human rights and climate change in Latin America, the US State Department said in a statement Friday.
The visit also builds on the outcome of the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles in June, which launched the Latin America Migration Partnership.
