The U.S. army Southern Command and the Colombian army jointly carried out a medical mission in Sumapaz, the rural area south of Bogota, where army doctors attended some 5,000 locals who generally have no or difficult access to heath care.
At the improvized medical center some 30 U.S. and Colombian doctors provided basic and free medical care under supervision of U.S. ambassador to Bogota William Brownfield and Colombian armed forces commander Freddy Padilla.
“Ten years ago there would not have been a possibility to carry out an event of this nature,” Brownfield said, stressing the improved security situation in the region.
The medical mission is the third of “Compromise Colombia 2010” that previously seeked to help thousands of people on the Pacific coast and in the south of the country.
