Assistant Secretary Valenzuela in Colombia and Peru
This post was written by CIP Intern Cristina Salas Last week, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela visited Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. His trip received very little press attention in the United States. While the assistant secretary was still traveling, we posted an entry covering the little information we could find about the first half of his trip, in Ecuador and Colombia. Below is a recap of the second part of Assistant Secretary Valenzuela's visit to Colombia and Peru. In Colombia – Part II Read our coverage of the first part of Assistant Secretary Valenzuela's visit to Colombia here. In the second part of his Colombian visit, Valenzuela traveled to Cartagena on April 7th, where he met President Álvaro Uribe and discussed opportunities for regional cooperation. The Colombian Presidency's Office released a brief press release about the meeting. The release did not divulge many details, but noted that the President and Assistant Secretary Valenzuela spoke about the "importance of the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between both countries, the fight against narcotrafficking and terrorism, and the strengthening of diplomatic and economic relations." On the U.S. Department of State blog, "DipNote," Valenzuela says he had a "good meeting" with President Uribe, and recognizes President Uribe's role in improving Colombia's situation of insecurity. In the video blog, Valenzuela also referred to Colombia's Constitutional Court decision not to allow President Uribe to run for a third term. He said, "Colombia is an example where the rule of law and where institutions are working well and where a president decides, even if he is very popular, that at the end of his term, he indeed steps down." Assistant Secretary Valenzuela also participated in a panel with high-ranking government officials from other countries, and representatives of the private sector and of multilateral banks about regional governability in the World Economic Forum in Cartagena. According to a video posted on the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá's website, Valenzuela said at the Forum that he was in Colombia "to deliver the message that Colombia is still a trusted and important ally..." In his Facebook profile, Valenzuela reiterates the U.S. government's commitment to passage of the bilateral trade accord and the high regard the U.S. has for Colombia's example in the region, including its support to Haiti in the aftermath of the fatal earthquake. Valenzuela's final part of his stay in Colombia included a visit to a private foundation in Cartagena that helps displaced Afro-Colombians. This USAID-supported community development center is called Granitos de Paz, or Little Grains of Peace, and they offer options for income generation to this vulnerable population. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela said, "it was very moving to see what they do." In Peru Assistant Secretary Valenzuela continued his Andean regional tour with a final stop in Peru. The U.S. Embassy in Lima issued a press release saying the Assistant Secretary's agenda included meetings with President Alan García and Foreign Minister José García Belaunde to discuss a range of mutual bilateral interests, including economic development and free trade, security cooperation, democratic governance and social inclusion. He also met with Peruvian analysts and opinion leaders as well as a range of political leaders. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela ended his stay in Peru with a trip to San Martin to see alternative development projects and to meet with cocoa and coffee farmers and association leaders. In an interview with RPP Noticias, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela cited Peru's excellent results in the fight against drugs as a reason for the reduction in U.S. aid to Peru. A video of the interview has been posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Peru. According to La Voz Libre, Valenzuela's meeting with President Alan Garcia lasted around 45 minutes. Valenzuela was accompanied by National Security Council Deputy Adviser and Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs Daniel Restrepo and United States Ambassador to Peru Michael McKinley. The meeting included the participation of Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde and Peruvian Ambassador to the United States Luis Valdivieso. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela and President García discussed current events in Latin America and the rest of the world, and acknowledged that nuclear proliferation is one of the most complex topics in international relations. According to a statement released by the Peruvian government:
[Assistant Secretary Valenzuela] said the meeting was useful and his government is satisfied with Peru’s efforts to cooperate on topics such as the environment. He pointed out that there are still challenges in areas such as crime and narcotrafficking, in which both countries share responsibilities. In regard to the fight against narcotrafficking, he specified that they are looking to rebuild cooperation and talked about the importance of having a subregional strategy instead of bilateral agreements.
Valenzuela then held a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Lima, Peru where he talked about the war on drugs. He said Americans have to be involved in this fight because they share the responsibility of being part of the demand. He pointed out that Peruvian and U.S. cooperation has been excellent, but collaboration should not only be bilateral, and should include other countries in the region. He also referred to "aggressive speeches" and "excessive militarism" in some countries in Latin America:
We are obviously concerned by aggressive speeches and that sort of things. We are also concerned by excessive militarism ... but it a subject we have to work out together, with a lot of respect between all the countries that have similar goals... Some may criticize what we (the U.S. government) say, but honestly, we are looking to strengthen relations with all the countries in the region.
The next day, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela visited the laboratories of soil, biotechnology and phytopathology at the Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales (Institute of Tropical Crops). The peasants working in these organizations participate in a program to substitute growing coca with cacao. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela described his visit to the development project in his video blog:
The main theme of the trip was to talk to leaders in each of these places on how we can move ahead with social inclusion, poverty alleviation, making sure that our populations are more competitive which means in investment in infrastructure, investment in human capital and education. At the same time, we'll work more effectively together on things that are really complicated such as public insecurity, the drug trafficking, criminal violence and things like that which have affected these countries in a major way.