US vice president calls Trump call with Colombian counterpart 'very productive'

​​​​​​​By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday described President Donald Trump's call with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro "very productive," saying it supports broader efforts to promote peace in the Caribbean by weakening the power of criminal cartels.

"The president had a very productive phone call with the president of Colombia yesterday, and we continue to talk at all levels of government with a number of our friends in the Caribbean region," Vance said at a news briefing at the White House.

Vance argued that targeting illicit revenue streams would help reduce instability across Latin America and the Caribbean.

"I actually think this is really good for peace in the Caribbean, because when you take away a major source of illegal cartel revenue, which is the cocaine trade, the fentanyl trade, other sources of illicit revenue, you actually remove the power of one of the main destabilizing forces in Latin America and in the Caribbean," said Vance.

Framing the policy as central to Trump's foreign approach, Vance said: "Look, we say it all the time, this is the president of peace. One of the ways that you establish peace in your own hemisphere is to make it clear that the United States is going to be respected, that the United States is willing to take power away from criminal cartel organizations and give it to legitimate governments."

"That's how we see the future of the Western Hemisphere, and we think it's going to be much more peaceful than it was certainly under Joe Biden," he added, referring to the previous US president.

After the recent US operation in Venezuela, Trump suggested that a similar move against Colombia could be in the cards.