City of Laredo Mayor Meets with President of Colombia
Written by admin, Jun 13, 2009, 0 Comments
Providence, RI—City of Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas, while attending the 77th Annual United States Conference of Mayors Summer Conference in Providence, Rhode Island had a private meeting with Colombian President Alvarado Uribe Velez
President Uribe Velez had asked that Mayor Salinas be invited to a private briefing before his remarks to the Conference of Mayors to thank Mayor Salinas for co-sponsoring a pro-Colombia Free Trade Agreement resolution at last year’s meeting of the Conference of Mayors.
President Uribe Velez was first elected to office in 2002 and was reelected with a landslide victory in 2006. He has spent that last four years tackling Colombia’s armed groups and drug-traffickers.
Mayor Salinas, reflecting on the meeting said, “I was very impressed with the president. He told me that when he took office, about 400 mayors in Colombia could not live in their hometowns for fear of their lives. This was a disgrace to the president as he himself is a former mayor. Since he has taken office, however, homicides are down by 40% and kidnappings by 60%, but all of those improvements are vulnerable if his nation does not have free trade with the United States. We also need to be partners in the war on drugs. He is looking to reduce supply and we need to reduce demand. He also believes that Mexican President Calderon is on the right track.”
Mayor Salinas also participated today in two general sessions and the International Affairs Committee where he carried the Colombia free trade resolution in 2008.
