Santos to visit Obama in December

Barack Obama (L) and Juan Manuel Santos (Photo: President's Office)

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will visit Washington in December to meet with his United States counterpart Barack Obama at the White House, reported the Associated Press on Thursday.

The meeting is planned to take place on December 3.

His last meeting with Obama in 2011 was related to negotiations about the free trade agreement between the two states which has been in force just about one and a half years now.

MORE: Colombia’s trade minister admits exports to US dropped after FTA

This time their topics will include human rights issues, trade and economic cooperation.

There will also be talks about the ongoing peace process with the FARC and about how to join forces to ensure citizen security, White House spokesman Jay Carney told AP.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group FARC have been going for almost a year and have so far they have resulted in an agreement on one of six issues — land reform — while the other five are still under negotiation.

MORE: 2-day extension of current round of FARC peace talks suggests significant progress

December 3 will also be an important date for the new Colombian ambassador in Washington, Luis Carlos Villegas, replacing Carlos Urrutia who was forced to resign over land theft accusations.

MORE: Santos announces Colombia’s new ambassador to Washington

Sources

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