Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos called on the G-20 Thursday to find solutions to the economic crisis that continues to plague Europe.
Santos addressed the statements to the G-20 meeting taking place in France, saying that the financial crisis in Europe threatens to affect the world economy.
According to Colombia’s head of state, Latin America is in a good position, in which it is relatively protected from external shocks, but any deterioration in the global situation could affect the region.
Santos said, “we are relatively protected, not completely because no one can be fully protected from what is happening, but if the global economy goes down then without a doubt we will be affected.”
The president argued that countries such as Colombia, that have developed economic reforms and been disciplined with their finances, must not end up “paying the price for this crisis.”
The crisis is caused by Greece, a member of the eurozone, whose debts are threatening to destabilize the currency and affect the weaker countries like Italy and Spain that make part of the united currency zone.
U.S. President Barack Obama, his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with other eurozone leaders late Thursday to discuss a debt bailout plan that would cut by half Greece’s debt and create a $1.4 trillion firewall to protect other vulnerable European economies. It also would impose strict and unpopular austerity measures on Greece.