In the past few hours, it is known that the US Congress approved the Appropriations Act for the 2022 fiscal year, allocating a total of $471.3 million in cooperative funds to Colombia.
Ambassador Juan Carlos Pinzon announced the following message: “These resources are used for social development, rural development, alternative development, etc., but they can strengthen justice and fight crime. Resources reached people of African descent and indigenous peoples, as well as resources for the strengthening of armed forces with various capabilities, including secession, and most of those resources remained in the hands of the subsequent Colombian Government. ”
This is $10 million more than the previous year's budget and $17.5 million more than the Biden administration requested.
In this regard, President Ivan Duque considered the following announcement on his Twitter account: “President Biden's administration has allocated Colombia the highest budget in 10 years, we have approved good cooperation between our countries and confirmed that we are the most important ally of the United States in the hemisphere”.
“This year's allocation is $47.13 million, $10 million more than the 2021 budget,” he said. This is an important contribution, which we appreciate and will be reflected in investments to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking and care for the most vulnerable. ”
It is also understood that, following the reconciliation process of the text approved by the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, some provisions were omitted and presented to some parts of the House of Representatives.
According to RCN Radio, the Colombian embassy said, “Provisions detrimental to Colombia's security interests and the reputation of the Colombian police and army have been excluded from the final text of the law.”
That is, according to this law, the funds provided to Colombia will be transferred without prohibiting support for Esmad. Moreover, there will be no “negative reports of military personnel retired in Colombia due to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise”.
Similarly, the Embassy said in a statement that “holdings of international military financial accounts that rely on annual human rights certification” will not increase by 10 per cent and that “30 per cent of funds will not be held for anti-drug personnel under the annual human rights certification”.
According to RCN Radio, the Colombian Embassy in Washington will meet with the US Senate and House of Representatives to obtain amendments proposed by the House of Representatives to ensure that defense funds against Colombia are verified for human rights protection in the following cases. Protests in the United States in 2019.
It is worth recalling that last week, President Duke considered Colombia's designation as a strategic ally of NATO at the end of his White House meeting with President Joe Biden.
“I would like to thank President @JoeBiden for convening this important meeting and designating my country as a strategic ally and not a NATO member. Today, we elevate relations between the two countries to the highest level, making Colombia an important partner of the United States in Latin America. ”
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