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US. President Biden, from left, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, meets at the White House with Colombian President Iván Duque on March 10, 2022.
President Biden announced on Thursday that he will name Colombia as a major non-NATO ally, a significant recognition as the United States tries to undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence in Latin America after his invasion of Ukraine.
The special status has been given to only two other Latin American nations Argentina and Brazil and signals a very close relationship between the United States and countries not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The designation provides Colombia with certain trade benefits and boosts opportunities for security cooperation between the two countries including Colombia’s potential eligibility to purchase depleted uranium ammunition, according to the State Department.
As the Biden administration, weighs lifting sanctions on Colombia’s oil-rich neighbor Venezuela, in an effort to make up for any gap left by the U.S. ban on Russian energy imports a move Colombia strongly opposes.
Ahead of a 45-minute meeting, Biden said the recognition signals the “unique and close relationship” between the countries and said the South American nation is the “lynchpin” of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. “Colombia is a keystone to our shared efforts to build a hemisphere as prosperous, secure and democratic,” Biden said.
Duque, whose term ends in August, later thanked Biden and said the designation recognizes “the principles and values that we have shared.”
Colombian President Iván Duque speaks during his meeting with President Biden in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 10, 2022.
