BOGOTA, (AFP) ― Fresh off his reelection, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is inviting a handful of former world leaders, including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, to discuss the future of Colombia.
“We’ve invited five leaders who have had great success in their countries generating prosperity and applying principles ... I’m applying here in Colombia,” Santos told journalists.
In addition to the US and British leaders, Santos said Monday he had invited former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez as well as former presidents Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil.
The summit is slated for July 1 in the Colombian resort city of Cartagena.
Speaking to the journalists, Santos also evoked the former European leaders’ experience in peace talks with the IRA in Northern Ireland and the armed Basque separatist group ETA in Spain.
The center-right Santos picked up 50.95 percent in Sunday’s runoff election against the more conservative Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, validating his insistence on continued negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the smaller National Liberation Army.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
