Chairman Royce Meets with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos

Statement

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) today joined Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House leaders in meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the United States Capitol. After the meeting, Chairman Royce released the following statement:

"It is good to welcome President Santos to the U.S. Capitol to mark the 15th anniversary of Plan Colombia. Today Colombia is a thriving free-market democracy, a close ally and trading partner to the United States and a leader in efforts to address the violence plaguing Central America. But Colombia's success was never guaranteed. It took years of bipartisan U.S. support and -- most importantly -- the hard work of the Colombian people to get the job done.

"Today we talked about steps that can further strengthen the U.S.-Colombia partnership, and we also discussed President Santos' efforts to put an end to five decades of FARC terrorism. FARC's attacks against the Colombian people must stop. And for peace to last, it is critical that the Santos government stand firm -- and build upon -- our hard-fought gains to combat illegal drug trafficking and disrupt terror networks."

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