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Thursday, July 14, 2011

German minister discusses business, human rights in Colombia

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Thursday, on the second leg of his four nation tour of the Americas during which he discussed economic ties and human rights issues.

Germany is Colombia's biggest trade partner.

Westerwelle described Colombia as one of the world's emerging powers, with great potential.

'We want not only to have good political ties with Colombia, but also to cooperate more closely with it in the economic field,' he said.

Colombia also called for greater German investment.

Human rights issues were also on the agenda, including the fate of thousands of child soldiers involved in the Colombia's conflict.

The leftist rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), alone has at least 4,000 underage fighters.

Westerwelle arrived in Bogota Wednesday from New York, where he had presided over a session of the UN Security Council and met with Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin.

Germany is the chair of the council for July. 
 
Colombia and Germany are currently non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Westerwelle was to meet with Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon and also representatives of German companies in the Andean country.

He is to travel to Mexico later Thursday, and visit Haiti before his tour ends Sunday.

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