Two Latin American leaders with notable ideological and political project differences, but with common challenges. And two countries, Mexico and Colombia, determinants for the balances of the region. The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he received his Colombian counterpart on Tuesday, Ivan Duke, with the focus on cooperation on security and migration, according to sources from both governments.
The translation of this agenda reflects a central challenge: the fight against drug trafficking. The rulers, who were accompanied by their foreign ministers and holders of Defense and Commerce, exchanged experiences and addressed strategies to improve coordination between the country that produces more coca leaf in the world – almost 170,000 hectares, according to the latest annual balance sheet of the United Nations – and another plagued by the ecosystem of violence linked to drug trafficking.
“Colombia and Mexico have historically had a very close relationship of cooperation in security matters. Today we have been working on multinational campaigns and that has allowed us to face phenomena such as microtrafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering and of course our desire is to continue working hand in hand, “said Duque. The rulers addressed issues related to prevention and studied a mechanism to combat cartels through financial intelligence. “I believe that there is a feeling on the part of the Mexican Government to strengthen everything that is the feeling of national security, also integrating forces and working with greater intelligence, in the same line that we have been applying in our country, ”added the Colombian president.
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In recent years, the authorities registered an exponential growth in the presence of Mexican cartels in Colombia, especially on the Pacific coast, where the State has not yet managed to control the territory after the demobilization of the FARC. Both leaders also intend to set aside ideological differences to convey a sense of unity, to which the good relationship that Duque maintains with Alfonso Romo, head of the Office of the Presidency of López Obrador, who has always recognized the work of the former president will contribute Álvaro Uribe, without which the Duke’s mandate is not understood.
The Colombian president arrived in Mexico from New York, where on Monday he held a meeting with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, to try to lower the tension after the publication of two controversial reports that warn about the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Andean country. The Colombian president tried precisely to convince the United Nations of the seriousness of those he considers the main problems of his country: the narco and the massive migration of Venezuelans.
Venezuela is perhaps the most thorny issue of the meeting. It did not transcend, but, according to official sources, that point was on the table. Mexico maintains a very different position from the Colombian one, insofar as it opts for a dialogue and does not recognize Juan Guaidó as interim president, while for Duque there is no doubt about that. In addition, the renewal of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) was one of the issues addressed by both teams. While Colombia opts for the re-election of Luis Almagro, Mexico is in favor of a change and wants the OAS to be led by Ecuadorian ex-chancellor María Fernanda Espinosa. Other aspects of the agenda had to do with the Pacific Alliance and tourism and commercial cooperation between the two countries.
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