U.S. and Colombia Strengthen their Security and Defense Ties

The governments of Colombia and the United States renewed their commitment Monday to work on strengthening their cooperation on defense and security, at a working session with a delegation of congressmen from the U.S. visiting Bogota.

At the meeting, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon and members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs discussed such matters as the progress made in security over the past few years in the Andean country, and the policy of “security through diplomacy,” according to a communique from his office.

Through that policy, Colombia offers its experience in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism to allied nations, chiefly in Central America and the Caribbean.

At the meeting were Republican lower house representatives Ted Yoho (Florida), Jeff Duncan (South Carolina), Matt Salmon (Arizona) and Ed Royce (California), and Democrats Juan Vargas (California), Eliot Enge and Gregory Meeks, both for New York.

Also on hand were Colombian Deputy Minister of Defense, Jorge Enrique Bedoya, and Colombia’s ambassador to Washington, Luis Carlos Villegas, and U.S. ambassador to Bogota, Kevin Whitaker.

In the communique, Pinzon gave as an example of cooperation the “Relampago” (Lightning) joint military exercises of the Colombian air force and the South Carolina National Guard.

Published in Latino Daily News