Gustavo Petro and Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Meet in Cali in September

Gustavo Petro, the President of Colombia, and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will meet in Cali in September.

The Colombian government has announced this after a meeting between the Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva, and Alicia Bárcena, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico. The announcement was made as a result of the bilateral meeting, within the framework of the Summit of European Heads of State and Government and the CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). The meeting took place in Brussels and resulted in a €45 billion investment plan for financing projects in Latin America.

Migration and drugs

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed that the meeting, scheduled for September 8th and 9th in Cali, will address issues affecting both countries: migration and the fight against drugs.

The Colombian President has proposed a reorientation of the anti-drug policy in various forums since he took office in August 2022. In the official opening of the summit held in Brussels, Petro stated that “it is time to evaluate and propose new strategies, perhaps more effective. Mexico and Colombia, which have been deeply affected by this type of policy, have every right to meet.”

Alliance to change the global fight against drugs

Gustavo Petro has made a stand for the reorientation in the global fight against drugs. Colombia and Mexico, and their societies, are the two countries that have suffered the most from the consequences of this “failed” confrontation, as described by the Colombian President. In this meeting with the Mexican President, Petro seeks to form an alliance to continue promoting a change in parameters. In this sense, the Colombian President proposes to stop criminalizing the weakest links in the chain, the coca growers, and to focus efforts on hitting the criminal organizations that profit from drug trafficking.

Colombia has positively evaluated the social shift introduced by López Obrador in Mexico, with the development of social programs for young people and a reduction in police and military intervention.

Good relations between governments

The relations between the governments of the two countries have been very positive. In fact, Mexico is one of the guarantor countries in the negotiations that Colombia is conducting with the ELN guerrillas. Likewise, López Obrador congratulated Gustavo Petro on his electoral victory in last year’s elections.