Officials from Colombia and Peru will meet Friday to discuss developing a system of information sharing, as part of a plan for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking across their common border, reports Caracol Radio.
Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva, armed forces commander General Freddy Padilla, and Peruvian President Peru Alan Garcia are currently in the Peruvian Amazonian town of Iquitos to assess security operations designed to halt drug and arms trafficking in the area.
Iquitos is the capital city of the Loreto area. Situated on the Amazon river 125 km downstream from the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon rivers, it is a major smuggling hub. The Amazon connects it with the Colombian Amazonian town of Leticia.
Silva met with Peruvian Defense Minister Rafael Rey in Bogota at the beginning of March to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation.
This second round of meetings will discuss possible cooperation between Colombian guerrilla group the FARC and the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), a Peruvian Maoist guerrilla group, and the establishment of a common system of real time information on Peruvian and Colombian citizens, to help detect drug traffickers who try to cross the border.