Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed on Wednesday that his meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, at the White House will take place next February 3, following the phone call they had last week and which eased the tension between Washington and Bogotá.
«The Council of Ministers has an issue (on drugs), which is the one that has intensified the debate between the United States and Colombia - between the governments, between the presidents - which has ended with a possibility of a meeting that will be on February 3, we will see the results of that meeting, which is decisive,» expressed Petro.
When speaking before his ministers, the head of state recalled that he will present Trump with the drug trafficking data from his Government so that he «really knows what has happened in the fight that we have waged in this Government against narcotics».
The Colombian Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, met this Wednesday in Washington with high-ranking U.S. officials.
«What we are doing in Colombia is fighting a common enemy that we have with the United States, drug trafficking,» he stated.
«The challenge is how we increase efficiency to end this poison,» Sánchez assured in a press conference alongside the Colombian ambassador to the U.S., Daniel García Peña.
As part of his agenda in Washington, the minister has met so far with members of Congress, such as Republican Senator Bill Hagerty or with the chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Rogers.
He is scheduled to speak with members of the War Department and other Trump Administration officials.
Sánchez focused on Bogotá's efforts to eradicate drug trafficking, citing the seizure of more than 2,840 tons of cocaine.
Diplomatic Tensions
The U.S. president announced last week that he will meet with Petro at the White House during the first week of February and stated that it was «a great honor» to speak with his Colombian counterpart, after months of disagreements between the two leaders.
The Republican had accused Petro of participating in cocaine trafficking and also suggested that he «liked» the possibility of the U.S. sending a military mission to Colombia similar to the one that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last January 3.
Sánchez met with high-ranking U.S. officials to address the joint fight against drug trafficking, which he considered the «common enemy» for both countries, as a prelude to the meeting between the presidents.
«We had a very open dialogue, as has always happened,» said Petro.
