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López Obrador will head to Colombia next year for drug trafficking prevention talks

Mexico City, Mexico — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he will travel to Colombia next year with the aim of continuing the bilateral dialogue between both governments.

In a morning press conference, the president indicated that he has spoken with his counterpart Gustavo Petro about the prevention of drug trafficking.

Colombia, he said, is aware of the situation regarding the damage caused by illicit substances, which is why the government of that country is looking for alternatives to eradicate coca crops and drug trafficking.

“We agree that it is important to see it, not only from the vision of the United States, but to see it from the perspective of Latin America. This does not mean confronting us, but rather analyzing how we could deal with this problem and, above all, that there is no violence, taking care that they do not lose their lives due to organized crime, nor those who engage in these illegal activities, nor the authorities or police officers, of the Army, who also suffer,” he explained.

“President Gustavo Petro has a proposal. He outlined it. He announced the general guidelines. The idea is to pay more attention to prevention, to prevent people, especially young people out of necessity, from engaging in these illegal activities,” he added.

AMLO said that the Government of Mexico addresses the causes of violence and migration through the Well-being Programs, initiatives that were replicated in Central American and Caribbean countries as a regional cooperation action for the benefit of the peoples.

“We are helping a lot in Central American countries with the Sembrando Vida program and a lot of progress is being made, not only because of the drug issue, but fundamentally to give people options so that they are not forced to abandon their towns, so they have work in their communities,” he asserted.

“That, for example, we always insist on the United States government, that it invest in programs such as Sembrando Vida, such as Youth Building the Future so that there are options,” he said.

The meeting with the Colombian president in 2023, whose date is yet to be defined, will also be attended by leaders of other Latin American and Caribbean countries.