President Joe Biden will receive his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, next Thursday, the White House announced this Friday, stressing that the Latin American country is a “key” partner.
During their meeting at the White House, as a statement added, the two presidents will talk about how their respective countries can deepen their “strong” bilateral relationship by advancing in areas of mutual interest, such as promoting economic and security cooperation.
Biden and Petro will also discuss joint efforts against climate change and drug trafficking, how to address challenges such as migration, and how to promote democratic values and human rights both in their countries and in the rest of the world.
I thank the president @POTUS your invitation. It is a key moment to strengthen the relationship and mutual cooperation between both countries, not only in the fight against drug trafficking but also in the protection of the Amazon, climate change and rural development. pic.twitter.com/TXMePfZRt9
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) April 14, 2023
Petro’s presence in the US capital is part of a trip to the United States that, according to Bogotá, will begin this Sunday and will also take him to New York and Stanford.
In the first city, he will participate on Monday in the opening of the 22nd Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, at the UN headquarters, while on Tuesday he will travel to California to give a conference at Stanford University on the environment and social justice. from a Latin American perspective.
Petro will then travel to Washington, where it will remain until Friday. On the same Wednesday, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold a protocol session to receive the president.
The future meeting between Biden and Petro comes after the High-Level Dialogue between the United States and Colombia was held in Washington at the end of last month, where the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the foreign minister met Colombian, Álvaro Leyva, and various issues of interest to both countries were addressed.
