SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon, everyone.
It is wonderful to see everyone here today, particularly for this occasion.
Susan, thank you very much, both for the introduction but also for what you’re doing every day
to really bring our diplomacy alive, to bring it to new generations of Americans.
We’re grateful for this.
It’s a remarkable project and one that we’re fully invested in, so thank you.
And Mr. President, it’s so good to have you again in Washington.
We were just in Los Angeles days ago.
It’s wonderful to see you here.
It’s an opportunity, in a small way, for us to return the hospitality that you’ve
extended to us over this past year and a half, including my own visit to Bogotá last year,
and also to celebrate a truly joyous occasion.
And maybe we’ll do away with the microphone and I’ll try and project.
(Laughter.)
The 200th anniversary of our bilateral relations that we’re celebrating today – I guess
we’re giving new meaning to Juneteenth next week as well.
And Mr. President, I really wanted to thank you again publicly, as I just did privately,
for not just your participation in the Summit of the Americas, but for Colombia’s leadership
in the Summit of the Americas.
We got a lot done for the people of our hemisphere over those three days in Los Angeles, and
in no small measure because of Colombia’s leadership, including on the migration declaration,
which I may say a few additional words about in a few minutes.
But that leadership, as always, was invaluable.
Our partnership, as always, was invaluable.
And I’m grateful to you, President Biden is grateful to you, for that partnership.
Mr. Ambassador, Ambassador Pinzón, friends for a long time – it’s great to have you
here today; other colleagues from across the Government of Colombia: So I know this is
only one in a series of events that have been organized to celebrate our 200 years.
We’re grateful to our colleagues from Colombia for actually, in a sense, hosting the event
today, co-hosting it with us.
Our team in Bogotá is also extremely active in organizing celebrations in multiple Colombian
cities over the coming days.
And finally, let me say to our colleagues who are here from the Colombian and American
private sectors: Thank you for being here today; thank you for your work every day to
strengthen ties between our countries.
The economic bonds that bind us together are strong and growing stronger, and of course,
it’s a profound benefit to the people in both of our countries.
It is, I think, fitting that we are celebrating today at the National Museum of American Diplomacy.
How are we doing?
Let’s see.
(Laughter.)
It’s a rogue microphone.
(Laughter.)
We have – and I suspect the president will get into this as well – a long history of
being bound together, even before 1822, when our formal diplomatic relations began.
From 1806 to 1807, Simon Bolívar spent six months in the United States traveling the
East Coast from Charleston, South Carolina, up to cities along the coast, before, of course,
leading the independence movement in South America.
Beyond history, we, of course, have been and continue to be enriched immeasurably by Colombia’s
culture – the magical realism of Garcia Marquez, the art of Botero, the music of Shakira.
(Laughter.)
Colombia is said to be the land of a thousand rhythms; I suspect Shakira is responsible
for 999.
(Laughter.)
But to the point that Susan made – and I think it’s really important – this is
a relationship that has remained strong over 200 years, even in the most challenging times,
and that speaks volumes.
A few decades ago, Colombia’s entire future was on the line, under assault from drug cartels
and insurgent groups.
Conflict ravaged the nation.
Many Colombians endured violence or lived in fear of it.
And of course, at that time huge unemployment as well, economic difficulties.
We came together – the United States and Colombia – and I see leaders of that effort
in this room today.
We undertook Plan Colombia.
We ended half a century campaign to topple the Colombian Government, as well as a war
that killed more than 200,000 people.
Plan Colombia became Peace Colombia, and though many issues remain, Colombia has expanded
access to education, to jobs, other social services in its rural areas, and to the country’s
underserved communities, including Indigenous and Afro Colombian communities; reformed land
laws; established institutions like the disappeared persons unit.
Much work remains, but it is a remarkable thing, especially at a time of so much challenge
around the world, to see the commitment – the enduring commitment – that Colombia has
made to peace and progress.
Last month, we saw the strength of democracy in action.
I think you had the highest turnout for the first round of presidential elections in memory.
Regardless of the results, the United States looks forward to working with the next administration
to continue the progress that’s underway and the relationship that generations of our
officials and our people have built together.
Let me just say a few words before turning it over to the president.
We are deepening our economic ties.
Last month marked the 10-year anniversary of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
that has helped double U.S. agricultural exports to Colombia, while making the United States
the top importer of agricultural goods from Colombia.
Last week in Los Angeles, at the Summit of the Americas, President Biden announced the
Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity.
We will work closely with countries across the region, including Colombia, to remove
barriers to investment, to accelerate economic growth across our hemisphere, while ensuring
that the gains of growth are more equitable – because we know that even as our economies
grow, so have gaps between the rich and poor, and we’re determined to address that.
We’re advancing our shared security together.
Our partnership over the years has allowed U.S. and Colombian security forces to work
together.
Ambassador Pinzón and I worked on this some years ago.
We now see the benefits in the work Colombian security forces are doing to train others
throughout the hemisphere.
Colombia has become an exporter of security in our hemisphere, and that matters.
The recent designation of Colombia with President Duque as a Major Non-NATO Ally will enhance
this cooperation by helping our militaries work even closer together in the years ahead.
And this partnership, besides being a bilateral partnership, besides being a regional partnership,
is increasingly a global partnership.
We’re working together on global challenges, like the climate crisis.
We see the stakes of this in Colombia’s extraordinary natural beauty, from the snow-capped
mountains in Los Nevados to the tropical rain forests in the south.
We’re working together to protect these and other diverse ecosystems across the country
– for example, through Amazonia Connect, also announced at the Summit of the Americas.
This initiative will work to reduce deforestation across the Amazon – the lungs of the hemisphere,
and an unmatched source of biodiversity.
In my visit to Bogotá last year, I had a chance to talk to a group of young Colombians,
who asked me about several other areas where our countries work together, from creating
safe pathways for migration to promoting understanding through culture and education.
So I had one conversation with someone from a much younger generation – and a much more
talented musical background.
(Laughter.)
Juan Carlos Mindinero is an Afro Colombian musician from Tumaco who told me about his
work using music to promote peace and to address some of the most difficult issues in his community,
like racism.
His work reminded me in so many ways of the songs of the Civil Rights Movement in the
United States, which played such a key role in inspiring and mobilizing ordinary people
to act.
And when it comes down to it, that is really one of the most beautiful things about democracy:
ordinary citizens confronting the toughest challenges that we face out in the open.
And ultimately, these dedicated citizens are what give me the most optimism for the future
of the relationship between Colombia and the United States.
People who believe in the bonds between our countries, who stand ready to continue to
grow them, to make their own governments and the relationship between them even better,
even stronger, in the years ahead.
That’s what really drives this.
So let me simply say to everyone present, because in various ways virtually everyone
here has been involved in this relationship, thank you for the commitment to this work.
And simply put, Mr. President, friends and colleagues, here is to the continued friendship
between Colombia and the United States.
We could ask for no better partner, no better friend in the world.
Mr. President, over to you.
(Applause.)