2023-07-19 14:47:09
Francisco Palmieri, US ambassador to Colombia. Colpress.
In the midst of his speech during the second session of the Third CELAC-EU Summit held in Brussels, Belgium, President Gustavo Petro referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with controversial statements in which he spoke of the role of NATO ―whose main leader is the United States― in that conflict.
The president said that it is not possible to opt for the Putin regime or for the North American giant, since according to him they play the same role and that in this context Latin America does not have social alternatives, but defense ones.
“Actually, I couldn’t tell you if it is preferable to support the United States or Russia, it seems to me that it is the same. It seems to me that in the game of world politics we really don’t have social alternatives; perhaps we have military alternatives, of political conjuncture, conjunctural alliances. But the current world economic regime comes from the same capital that has found a limit”, the president explained.
Peter in Belgium. Presidency.
The US ambassador to Colombia, Francisco Palmieri, responded to these statements in an interview for the W Radio station, where he reminded the Colombian head of state of the more than 200 years of relations that the two nations have had.
“One and a half million dollars in investments in the implementation of the peace agreement, 11,000 titles with the peasants, we have protected half a million hectares in the Amazon. We are working daily with the Colombian people to demonstrate how the United States supports the country,” said the diplomat.
However, he assured that the Joe Biden government will not change its relationship with any country in the world, whether or not it supports Russia.
On the other hand, he referred to the new anti-drug policy of the Petro Government, which has been questioned by the Attorney General of the Nation, Francisco Barbosa. “We are analyzing Petro’s new drug policy. The most important thing is that there is a process where all the good actors, such as the Prosecutor’s Office, the Government, the public forces and the international community, are united behind a strategy that will advance the fight against drug trafficking,” said Palmieri.
He also added that “the Prosecutor’s Office is an independent power within Colombia, it has a very important role in that effort. It is worth listening to what the Prosecutor’s Office says about anti-drug policy.
Also on Tuesday the 18th, Petro assumed the presidency of the meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in 2025. In passing, he announced that Bogota will be the headquarters of this integration mechanism and the European Union.
Although he did not establish a position on Russia’s role in Ukraine, he said that the axes of the task that Colombia will lead at this summit will be peace in the region and the condemnation of all invasions of countries. He also emphasized that the “climate Marshall Plan” will be addressed, the preventive treatment of migration and trade in goods that do not contribute to deforestation.
In fact, in the second plenary session of the third CELAC-European Union summit, he referred to the invasion of Ukraine and other countries.
“Undoubtedly, there is an imperial or imperialist invasion of Ukraine, but what do you call the one that took place in Iraq, or Libya, or Syria? Why does this one have this reaction and the previous ones of this century don’t? Wouldn’t it be better to work on a general concept that prevents anyone from invading another country? Petro questioned.
He also launched an objection to the countries of the European Union, which according to him, have a carbon footprint three times higher than that of Latin America.
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