United States and Colombia installed this week Bogota a high-level bilateral summit to try to discuss pressing issues in regional security, economic cooperation and other pending issues on the agenda of both countries.
(In context: The balance of the summit between Colombia and Russia on border security)
And although this “high-level dialogue” had already been scheduled for several weeks, it has gained a lot of interest in light of new revelations about the presence of Russia and Iran in Venezuela and the crisis in Ukraine, where a military incursion by Moscow is still feared.
(You may be interested in: The intelligence report on Russian interference in Venezuela and Colombia)
The US delegation is made up of the Undersecretary of State, Victoria Nuland; Under Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, brian nichols; the director for the Western Hemisphere of the National Security Council, John Gonzalez; the deputy undersecretary of state for this hemisphere, Daniel Eriksonand the Regional Administrator for National Intelligence, Jon Stainbrook.
The trip had been agreed upon last year when the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, was in the country to participate in high-level dialogues focused on issues of immigration, drug trafficking, democracy and cooperation.
According to the State Department, the objective on this occasion is “to strengthen cooperation to strengthen regional security, democratic institutions and economic ties.”
According to the ambassador in Washington, Juan Carlos Pinzón, “this High-Level Strategic Security Dialogue between Colombia and the United States strengthens joint efforts in security, the economy, and the protection of democracy, at a critical moment at the globally and regionally”.
Although Pinzón does not say so directly, it is clear that he is referring to the current crisis in Ukraine and its Latin American component.
Last week, Defense Minister Diego Molano warned of Venezuela’s military moves on the Colombian border with the advice of both Moscow and Iran. A theme that this newspaper explored in detail in an exclusive uniform this weekend.
During a hearing in the US Congress, where concerns have arisen over Russia’s deployments in Latin America, Nichols said that “efforts to destabilize our hemisphere or bring the conflict from Ukraine to the Western Hemisphere” were unacceptable and that the US. The US would work with its allies to prevent it.
Although the issue of the Russian-Iranian presence is not new, from Washington it is seen from a different light in the current context.
“The Russians -and Iranians- have spent two decades strengthening their capabilities in the region with countries they consider friends. But without a doubt they are trying to magnify that role in the current crisis with Ukraine,” a source in the department told this newspaper. of State.
(Read here: The Caracas-Moscow alliance that today generates tension from the border area)
For most experts, it is clear that Moscow wants to show Washington that it also has the capacity to respond in its so-called “backyard”, because just sending some military advisers can cause President Joe Biden a headache in domestic sand.
In fact, a few days ago the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Riabkov, suggested that Moscow could deploy military infrastructure in the region in response to the position that the US has adopted in Ukraine.
Molano’s statements, based on military intelligence information, have caused tension in relations between Moscow and Bogotá. President Iván Duque summoned the Russian ambassador Nikolai Karlovich Tavdumadze to discuss the issue.
(In other news: US says it will work to ‘prevent’ any action in the region)
At the end of that meeting, in which the Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez and Minister Molano participated, the Foreign Minister said that Russia guaranteed them that military cooperation with Venezuela will never be used to threaten Colombia.
Likewise, the government asked the Kremlin for guarantees that its weapons will not fall into the hands of illegal groups operating on the border.
In any case, the issue figures high in the appointments with the US delegation, which will be in the country until the end of this week.
The agenda also includes coordination meetings for the celebration of 200 years of bilateral relations, which take place this year, and a balance of the first decade of the free trade agreement between the US and Colombia, which entered into Effective May 15, 2012.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent of THE TIME
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
#Russia #central #issue #summit #Colombia #United #States