Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives for an unofficial visit to Colombia to seek support for his people’s bid to be recognized a state by the United Nations.
The trip to Colombia is one of a series of trips to U.N. members who are not in favor of granting the Palestinians a state through the U.N.
Colombia, a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has so far refused to recognize a Palestinian state in line with its traditional allies the U.S. and Israel.
When speaking before the General Assembly last month, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that his government is in favor of a Palestinian State, but argued that this State must not be opposed but be the result of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The position of Colombia is a consistent position we’ve had for many years. If there is no dialogue between the two states, the two peoples, it will be very hard to achieve peace,” Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin explained then.
Santos will meet with Abbas on Tuesday.