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Two leaders with different ideological positions managed to meet in Tulcán, on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, amid various coincidences and the will to strengthen binational integration.
Guillermo Lasso, president of Ecuador, publicly confessed that he agrees with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro on environmental issues and electrical interconnection with clean energy, which would unite the south with the north of the continent in the future.
At the end of the meeting, on Tuesday afternoon, the Colombian delegation pointed out that the goals proposed in the last meeting held at the end of 2021 in Cartagena have been met.
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For President Petro, there are issues with a greater impact, such as the agreements on the Pacific Ocean, with more aggressive policies on drug seizures, where control agencies have shown greater effectiveness.
The Colombian president proposed a multilateral agreement around the Amazon rainforest, considered the world’s third climate pillar, and a trade that should flow more through a modern corridor.
He thanked Ecuador for the support provided to face the road emergency, which keeps the province of Nariño and part of Cauca isolated, after the Rosas disaster, which obliterated part of the Pan-American highway.
I announce the construction of a four-lane road that will link the Rumichaca border with Popayán and Cali, thus improving communication with South America, intensifying commercial, cultural, and social ties between Ecuador and Colombia, and all of America.
But he went further by arguing that America could market electrical energy, as both countries have been doing, noting that one of the drawbacks is the passage of the network between Colombia and Panama, but he warned of a special effort to unite all the Americas.
Lasso, for his part, explained that prior to the meeting he held a broad dialogue with his Colombian counterpart, highlighting as positive the achievements achieved so far by this integrationist space that meets every year.
It transpired that the seven axes of the bilateral agenda leave commitments that will be developed this year with shorter terms, on environmental issues, in which there are presidential coincidences to seek to overcome the greatest challenge facing the world, climate change.
At the meeting it was decided to implement a Binational Council Against Environmental Crimes, which will meet every six months to fight against this scourge; In addition, in common agreement, the leaders will strengthen the preservation of the Amazon forests.
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A prior meeting is scheduled in Leticia (Colombia) for the technical teams to prepare information, which will be known at a subsequent meeting attended by the heads of state.
President Lasso announced the activation of the second binational meeting of the working group on vehicles seized or retained in the two nations, which will resolve pending issues in this area.
Pedro Velasco, a member of the Carchi assembly, who spoke for several minutes with President Petro, explained that there are 60 Ecuadorian vehicles immobilized in Nariño, which could legally be recovered; while Governor Yaco Martínez added that 150 are in the same conditions in Ecuador.
The meeting also instructed the ministries of Agriculture, Trade and the Environment to form a working group that will assess the opportunities and risks of the new configuration of global value chains and the new international standards to achieve unimpeded trade and integration with the main trading partners of the two countries.
On the Security and Defense plan, presented by the Defense and Interior Ministers, the Ecuadorian President said that this instrument will help to have collaborative work on the border. “Security and the fight against organized crime is one of the coincidences between Ecuador and Colombia,” he emphasized.
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Lasso finally indicated that the two presidents are putting the happiness and prosperity of Colombians and Ecuadorians ahead, above any discussion of another aspect, a common objective that will allow reaching new levels of development that will benefit both countries.
He recalled that one carried out by Petro in December of the previous year has been a kind of support for the Ecuadorian fight against drug trafficking, organized crime and illegal mining, a mission that should be carried out efficiently by both ministers and the Armed Forces. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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