LatinNews Daily - 12 September 2022

Colombia: On 5 September, the commander of the US Southern Command (Southcom), General Laura Richardson, paid a visit to Colombia where she met with Colombia’s defence minister, Iván Velásquez and general commander of the armed forces, Helder Giraldo. This was the first meeting between Velásquez and General Richardson since the new Colombian government led by President Gustavo Petro took office last month. As well as discussing what Southcom described in a tweet as the “longstanding US-Colombian security partnership”, the meeting commemorated 200 years of bilateral relations between the US and Colombia. One outcome of the meeting was the US assurance to Colombia that that US Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort will stop in Cartagena, Colombia, to provide health and medical assistance. During her trip to Colombia General Richardson also received the ‘Fe en la Causa’ award from General Giraldo in recognition of her efforts to improve US-Colombia relations while Giraldo’s predecessor, Ret. General Luis Fernando Navarro Jiménez, received the ‘US Legion of Merit’ award from General Richardson for his work as defence minister.

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