Colombia’s president visits Venezuela for the first time since migration crisis
The Venezuelan and Colombian leaders met up for the first time since 2014. This is significant because Colombia and Venezuela border each other and have had complex relations in the past. According to the Colombian President’s Office they discussed reopening borders, opening the countries to the US to investigate Human Rights violations. The Venezuelan leader Maduro also agreed to discuss the issue of mass migration but the details of this discussion was kept from the press because of the problematic circumstances it has presented in the past. The prospects of this meeting could mean a reduction in crime, illegal mining, money laundering, and illegal drug trade.
The article is important because the agreement to prevent transnational crime implies a restoration of relations between the two countries intelligence departments. It is also significant because it could mean a serious decrease to the drug smuggling that makes it way to North America, Colombia is the only way to travel up into Panama and then into North America from South America without the use of a boat. Cocaine is also grown heavily in the two countries, if the two countries agree to prevent drug smuggling and crime it could mean a decrease of Cocaine Supply for foreign Nations. This would decrease the rate of cocaine use in places like America, however, it could also mean the increase of artificial versions of the drug like Bath Salts.
In class we have discussed the idea of power and the concept of there being a “king of the hill” type country regionally and globally. We were told that the current system is Unipolar and that the US was the current Unipolar power. Evidence appears of this when the two countries agreed to instead of dealing with their humanitarian issues with their own agencies to instead allow the US to bring their agencies in to assist. They do this for a multitude of reasons 1: It’s cheaper for them. 2: It increases their relations with America. 3: It allows for the use of a single agency in both countries. The reason they picked the US to provide Human Right assistance is because of its position as the global super power.