Author Topic: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?  (Read 2689 times)

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Biden announces major non-NATO ally status for Colombia
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that he intends to designate Colombia as a major non-NATO ally, a step that will provide the Latin American nation with benefits in the areas of defense, trade and security cooperation.

Biden made the announcement as he hosted Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House for the first time. The visit follows weekend talks between Biden administration officials and the leftist government of Nicolás Maduro in neighboring Venezuela, which has a tense relationship with both the U.S. and Colombia.

Avoiding a potentially awkward moment, neither Biden nor Duque raised the U.S.-Venezuela meeting in their public remarks. Colombia is a close U.S. ally, and Duque leads opposition to Maduro in the region,

Biden said he intends to bring Colombia into the NATO fold.

“That’s exactly what you are, a major, major non-NATO ally, and this is a recognition of the unique and close relationship between our countries,“ he told Duque, who sat directly across from the president at a large table in the Cabinet Room, each leader joined by a small group of advisers.

“Colombia is the lynchpin, in my view, to the whole hemisphere,“ Biden said.

Duque said Biden’s announcement recognized “values and the principles” shared by both Western Hemisphere countries.

Back home, Duque has been criticized for not sitting down earlier with the U.S. president, his strategic partner. The two did meet briefly late last year at a gathering of world leaders for a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2022/03/10/biden-announces-major-non-nato-ally-status-for-colombia.html