By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Tues. June 19, 2018: The United States has pledged to work with the new Colombia government of Ivan Duque.
The U.S. State Department on Monday saluted Colombia’s strong democracy and said the administration looks forward to deepening its “vibrant partnership based on our shared democratic values.”
“We will work with President-elect Duque to support Colombia’s efforts to combat drug trafficking, strengthen security, protect human rights, and secure the just and lasting peace its people deserve,” the US statement said.
The statement comes as Colombian voters generally expressed the hope that the country’s newly-elected president will continue promoting the peace process in the country, as their nation is at a most critical juncture in history.
Duque, of the conservative Democratic Center party, won the second round of the Colombian presidential election on Sunday, claiming 53.97 percent of the votes after 99.76 percent of the votes were counted.
Duque, 42, will take over the presidency in August from the outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos, who clinched a peace deal with the FARC, the largest guerrilla group in Colombia, in 2016.
Duque claims to follow the tough national security policy pursued by the former president but agrees to differ on the peace process. He said he has no intention of denying the entire peace process but wants to revise some of the key terms in the peace agreement. (CCTV contributed to this story.)
