That was pointed by the Foreign Secretary, Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde, in a press conference at the Casa de Nariño. He said that “each centimeter that we open for legal investment, legal tourism, is a centimeter that we take to drug trafficking and terrorism”

Bogotá, April 20 (SP). The Foreign Secretary Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde, said this Monday that the Free Trade Agreement with the United States is not only important for economical reasons, but also because it has a first level political connotation.

“Each centimeter that we open for legal investment, legal tourism, is a centimeter that we take to drug trafficking and terrorism”, pointed Foreign Secretary Bermúdez at a press conference held in the Casa de Nariño.

“We have to work with the Obama’s administration. It is with them that we have to work to find the appropriate arguments and time to take this subject to the Congress. But we have to keep insisting about this work with the administration, with the Congress and with every one of the congressmen. We are working in that. No euphoria, with a lot of realism, and above all with prudence and persistence. About negotiating, there is no more to say. That is already negotiated”, he explained.

He concluded that “we have to understand that the internal agenda of The United States is difficult. There is a financial crisis situation in the world. There are some international difficulties that this country is taking care of. There is ambiance against free trade in the Congress of the United States and in some other sectors, and we have to work in that context.”