Posted on 02/20/2015 2:57:12 PM PST by lbryce
Original Title:Remarks Announcing the New Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process Bernie Aronson
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JACOBSON: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here. I would like to introduce Secretary of State John Kerry.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very much, Assistant Secretary Jacobson. Let me say that Im pleased the ambassador Colombias Ambassador Villegas thank you for joining us, and good morning, everybody.
Shortly after I was elected to the Senate in the 1980s, I served as chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. And we spent a lot of time focused on Colombia, which was at the time facing some incredibly difficult circumstances and some very tough choices. Ive had the opportunity now to visit Colombia twice since becoming Secretary, and I have gotten to see firsthand the extraordinary transformation that has taken place in Colombia. In the 1990s we worked very hard on Plan Colombia, and it was controversial at the time, but it resulted in assisting this transformation to take place, together with the extraordinary courage of the people of Colombia, who really fought to reclaim their country. And its a great success story.
Today, Colombia is a critical ally for the United States. And we are working hard together to promote security and economic prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere and the world. But despite Colombias remarkable story and all that it has achieved as a nation, the country has continued to suffer the tragic effects of one of the longest running wars on the planet, a war that has lasted half a century and left millions of Colombians dead, wounded, or displaced.
(Excerpt) Read more at state.gov ...
Next week:FRANKENKERRYSTEIN is going to the backwoods of West Virginia to see if he can get the Hatfields and the Mccoys to resolve their dispute on who owns what among all the liquor stills scattered among the West Virgin-ee forest. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee is just happy and gay with their Peace Prize Prodigy.
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