Former leftist M. Petro, who hosted M. Blinken in Bogota, called the U. S. -led drug war a failure and called for a new foreign approach.
At a press conference following their meeting, Mr. Blinken said the two sides were “largely synchronized” on drug trafficking technique, but there is no indication of new agreements on the issue and reiterated divergent perspectives on the extradition of drug-related criminals.
Petro said Colombia’s priorities were to prohibit the drugs before they were shipped out of Colombia and prosecute those running the trade, who probably, he said, would not be in the Colombian jungle yet in Bogota, Medellin, Miami and even New York. .
There were discussions about “doing more in terms of prohibiting drugs than the seas through ships, as well as further improving intelligence sharing to prosecute those guilty of drug trafficking,” Mr. Blinken.
He added that Petro had put “concrete concepts on the table” in the talks, but did not mention express agreements.
Blinken is on a week-long trip to Colombia, Chile and Peru, all of which have relatively new leftist leaders. Read the full story
Petro reiterated the denunciation of Colombia’s agreement with Washington on the extradition of drug traffickers. He proposed that drug traffickers who comply with government situations and leave the industry deserve not to be extradited to face quotas abroad.
Mr. Blinken replied that extradition between the two countries had benefited justice and victims of transnational crimes.
“This is a vital tool to dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that cause so much damage to our societies. And we will continue to work hard together on this,” Mr. Blinken said.
Petro also reiterated his complaint about the continued inclusion of Cuba on the US list of state sponsors of the promotion of terrorism as an injustice, and denounced that former US President Donald Trump’s resolution to re-include Cuba on the list has been corrected.
Cuba hosted peace talks between former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the now-demobilized FARC guerrillas.
“This is called an injustice and although I don’t think it’s up to us, let it be corrected,” he said. Petro. – Reuters