Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will meet Thursday with U.S. President Barack Obama during a four-day visit to Washington, D.C. The visit includes a ceremony celebrating 15 years of “Plan Colombia” — the package of U.S. assistance that has supported Colombia’s efforts to combat drug-funded insurgent groups and extend social services to conflict-affected communities.
The two presidents are also expected to reveal more details about the next phase of U.S. assistance to Colombia — unofficially dubbed “Plan Colombia 2.0” — now that the South American country is close to signing a long-sought and controversial peace treaty with the FARC guerrilla movement. Many expect a peace agreement could be signed within the first half of this year.
Santos, accompanied by several cabinet members, will meet with a wide range of officials and policymakers during the four-day visit. The White House is touting the visit as reflective of “one of the premier foreign policy successes for the United States in recent years,” which has come at a cost of over $9 billion in U.S. assistance to Colombia since 2000.