Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed Thursday will travel to Brazil in September to meet with President Lula da Silva, as well as New York at the end of August to participate in a General Assembly of the United Nations.
Santos’ visit to Brazil will be his first international trip since he assumed office on August 7. Lula announced the anticipated visit earlier in the week. Santos will be in Brazil from September 1 to September 2.
Santos said he will be accompanied on his trip to Brazil by a “delegation of numerous businessmen” to promote investment in the Colombian economy, which, he said, “has grown a lot and will continue to grow.”
Colombia and Brazil have an amiable relationship, with Lula offering to mediate the diplomatic crisis that unfolded between Colombia and Venezuela in July.
On September 24 Santos, along with representatives from China and Ghana, will present a report to the UN General Assembly on advances made in the terms of the millennium goals that all UN member states have agreed to try to achieve by 2015.
Santos also announced Thursday that the former director of the International Coffee Organization, Nestor Londoño, will be Colombia’s new ambassador to UN.
Santos said the appointment was particularly appointment in terms of foreign policy because Colombia has the backing f 70 countries to take a seat on the UN Security Council.
The Colombian president also announced that Roberto Prieto will represent Colombia at the International Monetary Fund, while Maria Angelica Arbelaez will be the nation’s representative before the Inter-American Development Bank.