Blinken backs Colombia’s ‘holistic’ approach to drug policy

By MANUEL RUEDA
Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has backed Colombia’s recent efforts to rethink its drug policy and said the Biden administration and Colombia’s newly elected government will work together on rural development programs and interdiction efforts, while sharing intelligence on drug trafficking groups. The comments came after a meeting between Blinken and Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Bogota, the first stop on a tour of South America in which the secretary of state will also visit Chile and Peru. Last month Petro spoke at the U.N. General Assembly and said that U.S.-led efforts to fight drug trafficking around the world had been  “a failure.”