U.S. President-elect Barack Obama called Colombian President Álvaro
Uribe to express his appreciation for his congratulations, Obama’s
transition office said Wednesday.
Aside Uribe, Obama called U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and several African leaders.
The transistion office wouldn’t say if Obama and Uribe talked about
current issues like the pending free trade agreement or Plan Colombia,
the multi-billion US-Colombian joint effort to eradicate coca in
Colombia that may see cuts, because of the current global financial
crisis., but a source close to Uribe told French press agency AFP that the pair spoke for about 10
minutes on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the trade pact
Obama has indicated he is willing to re-negotiate when he takes office
in January.
Uribe had been open in his support for McCain and now
faces increased scrutiny over human rights abuses in his nation from
Obama, who opposes a US-Colombia free trade pact currently frozen in
the Democratic-led U.S. Congress.