Former Colombian presidents Álvaro Uribe and Andrés Pastrana met with Pres. Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend, in a meeting probably arranged by Marco Rubio:
In a tweet following the meeting, Pastrana thanked Trump for the “cordial and very frank conversation” about problems in Colombia and the region.
Uribe was unavailable for an interview, but his former vice president, Francisco Santos, said it was important that the Trump administration and U.S. Congress hear a more complete picture of the reality in Colombia. He described the meeting as short, but with a clear message. The former presidents raised concerns about the situation in Venezuela and Colombia, including damage they say the peace process has caused.
“We’re very worried,” said Francisco Santos, who is the Bogotá chair of Uribe’s Democratic Center political party and the current president’s cousin. “You have a perfect storm, and the government says everything is going fine and we’re living in peace. And that’s not true.”
The Mar-a-Lago meeting coincided with a letter Uribe wrote to the Trump administration and Congress, which he published on Twitter, warning that President Santos’ efforts to complete a peace deal with the rebels could lead to Colombia becoming an authoritarian state similar to Venezuela.
Message to the authorities and the Congress of the United States of America… https://t.co/U1THc37vYn
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) April 16, 2017
Related:
Prior posts on the FARC and the peace agreement.
