Colombian President Duque to meet Biden next week

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - US President Joe Biden will receive Colombian President Ivan Duque on March 10, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

“President Biden looks forward to welcoming President Iván Duque Marquez of the Republic of Colombia to the White House,” Psaki said in a statement.

Biden and Duque will discuss “a range of regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military invasion of Ukraine, and the promotion of democracy, security, and prosperity in the hemisphere,” she added.

Almost simultaneously, the Colombian president spoke about the meeting.

“It is very significant for Colombia that the President of the United States invites us to this meeting in Washington at such a challenging time for humanity, which is also an opportunity to commemorate 200 years of diplomatic relations,” Duque wrote on Twitter.

A year after Biden came to power, he has not met with Duque, which has led many to speculate that the US’ close ally in the region has no support in Washington.

The estrangement allegedly occurred after Duque´s right-wing party bet on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the 2020 US presidential elections.

“The President looks forward to this important meeting to deepen the strategic partnership between the United States and Colombia,” said the White House.

One of the main topics to be discussed is the analysis of regional problems and the recent attack that the Russian military has perpetrated against Ukraine.

After Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he supported Putin's attack, Duque said last week that Colombia will continue to “keep its eyes open” to any violent scenario that may arise in the neighboring country.​​​​​​​

According to Duque, Russia told Colombia that “it will never use Russian weapons to threaten or attack Colombia and we expect it to do so,"