Press release

Foreign Secretary visits Colombia to reaffirm UK support for peace process

Philip Hammond has arrived in Colombia

From:
Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond
Published
27 April 2016
This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has arrived in Colombia to highlight the UK鈥檚 support for the country鈥檚 peace process and fight against narcotics during visits to Bogota and Cartagena.

Visiting Colombia for the first time as Foreign Secretary, Mr Hammond is on the first stop of a tour of Latin America that will include Cuba and Mexico.

The UK has been committed to supporting the peace process since official talks began between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) three years ago. This year the UK has contributed 拢4.2m to a UN fund, and a further 拢1.1m to an EU fund, to prepare and implement a peace deal.

In Bogota, the Foreign Secretary will hold high-level talks with President Santos and meet with the Minister for Defence and the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs. He will visit the National Reintegration Agency to meet with former combatants who have demobilised and re-joined civilian life. Mr Hammond will also open a new British Council centre in Salitre and attend a Shakespeare-themed classroom event to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright鈥檚 death.

In Cartagena, Mr Hammond will visit the Colombian Naval Base to see firsthand UK-Colombia cooperation on counter-narcotics.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said:

The UK is a strong supporter of the Colombian peace process and will continue to back efforts underway to reach a sustainable agreement and lasting peace for the Colombian people.

Since 2015 we have committed over 拢9 million to post-conflict projects in Colombia, drawing on our own experience in Northern Ireland. This builds on our diplomatic efforts in the UN Security Council for a UN mission that will verify an eventual ceasefire.

Our support extends further to areas of shared prosperity and bilateral trade. This year, we will contribute 拢1 million to Prosperity Fund programmes which promote Colombia鈥檚 economic development and 拢20 million on science and innovation through the Newton Caldas Fund over five years.

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Published 27 April 2016