Department of Defense Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Devin T. Robinson provided the following readout:
On November 28, 2022, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mr. Daniel Erikson, hosted Colombia's Minister of Defense Iván Velásquez at the Pentagon for the Executive Framing Meeting to set the agenda for the 18th U.S.-Colombia Defense Bilateral Working Group to be held in 2023.
The Bilateral Working Group is an established defense diplomacy dialogue that guides the U.S.-Colombia defense relationship and bilateral security cooperation. The forum is a mechanism to discuss strategic level defense issues and to explore future cooperation activities.
DASD Erikson and Minister Velásquez discussed the framework of the Bilateral Working Group and setting the agenda to discuss shared priorities, including: 1) Defense Sector Institution Building, 2) International Security Cooperation, 3) Strengthening Strategic Intelligence Capacity, 4) Counternarcotics, Territorial Stabilization, and Peace Accord Implementation, and 5) Emergent Transboundary Challenges. The leaders also discussed the importance of integrating climate change considerations into future defense dialogues, and underscored the importance of combating corruption and respecting democratic values, the rule of law, and human rights in all aspects of the defense relationship. DASD Erikson and Minister Velásquez agreed to hold the Bilateral Working Group in the first half of 2023.