The United States has expressed its commitment to “strengthen” relations with Colombia on defense issues.

The United States on Monday expressed its commitment to “strengthen” defense relations with Colombia, one of its main allies in the region. This is how the US Secretary of Defense expressed it on his social networks, Lloyd Austin, after the conversation he had with the Colombian Minister of Defense, Diego Molano.

“I spoke with the Minister of National Defense of Colombia @Diego_Molano. I expressed my commitment to strengthening our advocacy relationships. We are talking about regional security, climate change, COVID-19 and respect for human rights in the Western Hemisphere “Austin said.

The leaders discussed their common interest in deepening cooperation on strategic issues, including the response to COVID-19, climate change, the fight against terrorism and narcotics, the exchange of information and ensuring compliance of human rights in Colombia and throughout the hemisphere. The US Department of Defense said in a brief statement. He added: “Secretary Austin congratulated Colombia on its progress as a global partner of NATO and expressed his gratitude for Colombia’s contributions to international and regional security.”

This contact between Defense portfolio managers takes place at the heart of the crisis that Colombia is going through, where social protests against the government persist.

In this regard, the United States highlighted the decision of Iván Duque’s government to Deploy an operation to locate those missing in connection with the protests and for their commitment to investigate allegations of abuse against the protesters.

“We welcome the Colombian government’s announcements to investigate allegations of excessive use of force by the police,” said President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

The White House press secretary pointed out that the Duque government has activated “a special tracing unit to investigate missing persons reports with 35 teams deployed across the country to follow up on complaints received through 24 hour hotlines. on 24 ”.

“We encourage the authorities to continue working to locate all those missing as soon as possible. We certainly encourage these actions, ”he said.

Psaki raised the issue when asked at a press conference about the demands of U.S. lawmakers, including the Democratic congressman. Jim mcgovern, so that the Biden government denounces “clearly and unequivocally the police brutality in Colombia”.

The protests that erupted in Colombia on April 28 leave at least 43 dead, 15 in direct relation to the protests and 11 in the verification process, according to the Office of the Prosecutor and the Office of the Mediator of Colombia, the constitutional body that oversees human rights.

The two institutions reported that 290 people were reported missing. The urgent search mechanism remains active for 129 requests.

Washington’s request to Bogotá comes when Colombia’s vice president and foreign minister designate, Marta Lucia Ramirez, is developing this week an intense diplomatic agenda in the American capital.

According to the Colombian Embassy, ​​the visit seeks to “strengthen bilateral relations, make known the details of the social situation that is experienced in the country and strengthen cooperation in the fight against covid-19”.

After meeting with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis AlmagroFor now, Ramírez has rejected his request, as well as that of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), to observe first-hand what is happening in Colombia.

“We have the request of the IACHR and also of Secretary Almagro himself. We said all visits were welcome. But right now, we consider that we must wait until the oversight bodies themselves have finished doing their homework, investigate each of the cases and organize a plan in the coming weeks for either visit. He told reporters.

The IACHR, which asked the Duque government for the green light ten days ago to assess the human rights situation in Colombia “ in situ ”, said on Twitter that during the meeting with Ramírez “He reiterated the importance of the working visit and its scope and format were discussed.”

Ramírez also plans to meet with the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, and several members of Congress, including McGovern.

In a letter to the head of American diplomacy, Antony blink, McGovern, co-chair of the Commission on Human Rights in the US Congress, and 55 other lawmakers have called for an “immediate de-escalation” of tensions in Colombia.

The letter dated May 14 even called for the suspension of direct assistance to Colombia, as well as the sale of arms and equipment to Colombian riot police ESMAD, “Until clear and concrete human rights criteria are established and respected.”

Duque, close to the government of former Republican President Donald Trump, said Colombia, the traditional United States ally in the region, aspires to maintain a “strategic, bipartisan and bicameral” relationship with Democrat Biden.

With information from AFP

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