POMPEO ENDS LATAM TOUR IN COLOMBIA

Bogota, Sept. 20: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday wrapped up a tour of four South American countries — three of them neighbours of Venezuela, whose socialist government is under intense US pressure.

After a meeting with Colombian President Iván Duque on Saturday, the two vowed to deepen ties — including US investment in the country’s struggling economy — and Pompeo praised Colombia’s tough stance against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Pompeo said Colombia’s backing of opposition leader Juan Guaido “and the democratic transition for a sovereign Venezuela free of malign influence from Cuba, from Russia, from Iran, is incredibly valued”. “You are a true leader for the region and the dignity of all of its people,” he said at a news conference.

In a separate statement, Pompeo announced an additional $ 348 million in aid for Venezuelans, including the some 5 million who have left the crisis- wracked nation.

His office said that new funding now brings the total amount of US humanitarian and development assistance toward the Venezuela crisis to more than $ 1.2 billion since 2017.

Pompeo’s three- day trip to the region comes as the US presidential election nears, with Florida — which has hosted an expanding Venezuelan diaspora — a key battleground. Duque highlighted a report by the UN’s top human rights body accusing Maduro’s government of crimes against humanity, including torture and killings carried by security forces.