LatinNews Daily - 05 June 2023

Colombia: From 22-24 May Uzra Zeya, US Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, visited Colombia. In a statement released prior to the trip, the US State Department said that Zeya was going to meet officials of the administration led by President Gustavo Petro to “discuss shared objectives of ensuring safe, orderly, and humane migration management, countering narcotics, and advancing civilian security”, as well as “engag[ing] with civil society organisations on topics including transitional justice, democracy, human rights, and media freedom”. On Twitter, Zeya announced that she had met with representatives from the United Nations (UN) refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Colombian branch of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to discuss ways “to advance safe, orderly, and humane migration and support displaced person and host communities”, as well as with the Colombian government’s director of migration, Fernando García, to discuss “bolstering US-Colombian cooperation on regional migration challenges and opportunities”. Zeya also met with Colombia’s Defence Minister Iván Velásquez for talks on how to deepen US-Colombian collaboration on counternarcotics and counter-smuggling operations in the Darién Gap, a dense jungle in Panama bordering Colombia, through which tens of thousands of migrants attempt to cross en route to the US. Following her trip to Colombia, Zeya visited Guatemala from 24-26 May, where migration also formed a central topic of conversation.

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