Queen Elizabeth II of Britain met with President Juan Manuel Santos today to express her interest in Colombia and desire to improve relations between their countries, as well as have a few laughs with the Colombian head of state.
After meeting at Buckingham Palace, Colombia’s President Santos said that the queen was very intrigued by Colombia, and had asked about the Colombian economy, relentless rainy season, aspects of public order, and their ties to the United Kingdom.
“The Queen is very aware of Colombia, very interested in what’s happening in Colombia, and keen to improve relations between Colombia and the United Kingdom … it has really been a fruitful day,” Santos happily explained.
In addition to making plans for the future, the Colombian leader fondly recalled his college days in England, commented on issues of international politics, and even cracked a joke with the queen.
Santos said “She asked something about why economists were unable to predict the recession of 2008 and 2009, and to her surprise no economist could answer her. Then I said well, that is the definition of us economists; we spend half the time making predictions about the future, and the other half of the time explaining why things didn’t happen the way we said they would.”
The Colombian president is on an official visit to the UK as part of a European tour.