Department of Defense Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth L. Hoffman provided the following readout:
On November 9-10, 2020, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mr. Daniel Erikson, co-chaired the 17th annual U.S.-Colombia Defense Bilateral Working Group with Colombian Vice Minister of Defense for Policy and International Affairs, Ms. Sandra Alzate and Vice Minister of Defense for Strategy and Planning, Mr. Jairo García. The meeting took place in Bogota, Colombia.
Established through a joint agreement in 1999, the U.S.-Colombia Defense Bilateral Working Group represents a core component of the defense relationship and provides a strategic framework to guide bilateral security cooperation. The forum is a mechanism to discuss strategic-level defense issues and to guide future cooperation activities in the areas of defense and security.
DASD Erikson and the Vice Ministers discussed: 1) Defense Sector Institution Building, 2) International Security Cooperation, 3) Strategic Intelligence Capacity Building, 4) Counternarcotics, Territorial Stabilization, and Peace Agreement Implementation, and 5) Emergent Challenges and External State Actors. The leaders reaffirmed the importance of adhering to the highest standards of democratic values, the rule of law, and human rights in all aspects for the bilateral defense relationship. They also acknowledged the importance of integrating the impact of climate change into future defense dialogues.
