US President Joe Biden began his meeting with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, thanking him for his “frank” and “strong” defense of human rights in the Americas.
“I want to thank you for your commitment and your frank and strong defense of peace and human rights on the continent,” said the US president in statements to the press at the beginning of the meeting.
When the press walked in, Biden and Petro were sitting next to each other in two armchairs in the Oval Office that face the fireplace. The meeting began after 2:45 p.m. local time (18:45 GMT).
The US president stressed that he has long considered Colombia to be a “key pillar” of the hemisphere and urged them to work “hard enough to achieve a united and economically prosperous continent.”
“I know that we share a fundamental element, which is to protect the dignity and rights of workers,” said Biden, who mentioned drug trafficking and migration as other fundamental areas of cooperation.
The United States and Colombia, in his opinion, “are leading the effort to address climate change,” and are in turn focused on making their economies grow “from the bottom up,” and not the other way around.
And yet, he stressed that he is convinced that they can “do more to deepen” their collaboration.
“I want to thank you for taking the time to be here and I’m looking forward to talking,” he told Petro, whom he also thanked for his “hospitality and support for Venezuelan refugees” and took the opportunity to congratulate him on his 63rd birthday. which took place on Wednesday.
The meeting with Biden is the highlight of the US tour of Petro, who on Monday spoke at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, at the UN headquarters in New York; on Tuesday she was at Stanford University in San Francisco (California) and on Wednesday she gave a speech before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), in Washington.
Petro tells Biden that he wants to talk about democracy, freedom and peace
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, began his meeting this Thursday with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, thanking him for his “frank” defense of human rights in the American continent.
“I want to thank you for your commitment and your frank defense of peace and human rights on the continent,” said the US president in statements to the press at the beginning of the meeting.
Biden and Petro were sitting next to each other in two Oval Office chairs that face the fireplace. The meeting began after 2:45 p.m. local time (18:45 GMT).