(Bogota) The United States is willing to hold an “open and honest conversation” on the war on drugs with the new Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who wants to end it because of its failure, a United States delegation said on Monday. Bogotá.
Posted at 8:55 p.m.
“I believe what the president (Petro) wants to do is get peace. It is also in the interest of the United States. This is the basis for open and honest conservation,” Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks said at a press conference.
Mr. Meeks is part of the American delegation that attended the inauguration ceremony of the first left-wing president in Colombia’s history on Sunday. This delegation is led by Samantha Power, head of the American Agency for Development (Usaid).
During his inauguration speech, Mr. Petro said it was “time to have a new international convention that accepts that the war on drugs has failed”.
Mr. Meeks said he was “impressed” by the speech of the new head of state, who also spoke of a million Latin Americans who died in forty years of the fight against drugs, and of tens of thousands of victims of overdoses in the United States.
“We have agreed to speak and discuss the need to end the violence that was discussed during the inauguration,” the New York state deputy said.
Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and the United States its main market. Drug trafficking also makes it possible to finance armed groups operating on Colombian territory.
“There are understandable differences that we have continued to talk about and discuss […] we agreed that drug trafficking has had devastating effects on populations both in Colombia and in the United States,” said Samantha Powers.
Following a meeting on Monday with Mr Petro and Vice President Francia Marquez, Mrme Power underscored in a tweet “the urgency of climate action” and “the shared commitment to advancing the peace process” that disarmed FARC guerrillas in 2017.
Gustavo Petro proposes to suspend the extradition to the United States of drug traffickers who ensure a “peaceful dismantling” of their activity. However, he admits that this depends on “negotiation” with Washington, which has not commented on this.