The NATO leader said that Brazil and other Latin American countries could become "partners" of the alliance

NATO may badyze the possibility that other Latin American states join Colombia to become partners in the alliance, said its secretary general Wednesday, although it seems rule out President Donald Trump's suggestion that Brazil could one day become a member. with all rights.

"Until 2017, NATO had no partners in Latin America, then in 2017 we had the first, Colombia, and Being a close NATO partner is a good thing for NATO and for the partner country"he said Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with Reuters, before a ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance.

"Of course, it is possible to envisage the possibility of other Latin American countries becoming partners, which then offers a platform, a framework for close political and practical cooperation"he added.

Last month, at a joint press conference at the White House, Trump said he had told Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that he could designate his country as "a major non-NATO ally" "South American country can be an ally of the organization.

The membership NATO is currently limited to Western European countries, Turkey, Canada and the United StatesAustralia and New Zealand, as well as Sweden and Finland are also NATO partners.

Asked about the possibility for a country like Brazil to become a member of the body, Stoltenberg excluded the possibility.

"The partners are not members. But the partners are very close. We work very closely with them on the practical and political side, and it's a very good way to enhance cooperation with NATO and non-alliance countries. "

When asked if Brazil could be a partner, he explained: "Someone must propose it and it must also be requested by Brazil"

"But (…) we recently agreed with Colombia to make Colombia a close partner of NATO and of course it is quite possible to have more partners in Latin America, but it must be a desire expressed by Latin America and we must discuss the 29 allies"he said.

Colombia reached an agreement in 2017 to become the only country in Latin America to join NATO as a "global partner", an "ally" status-free relationship, which means that it does not have to participate in a collective military action.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia and Pakistan are among NATO's other global partners.

(With information from Reuters)