Brazil and Colombia will enter into a bilateral border agreement to combat organized crime. The measure was discussed last Tuesday (Jan. 17) in Brasilia between the Colombian Minister of Defense, Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno, and his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim. The Colombian delegation is on an official visit to Brazil with the objective of strengthening military cooperation between the two countries.

According to Amorim, a commission will be created to jointly implement the plan. "We are jointly discussing the implementation of this plan. We already had an exchange of information in the past, but now this will be done in a more transparent manner". The first technical meeting of the committee should be held in February or March.

Consolidation of the South America defense industry and the theme of combating organizations that practice trans-national crimes will also be taken up by the Ministers at the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). "This fight against drug trafficking and trafficking in weapons and explosives will become stronger through a common effort", said Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno.

Topics discussed at today's meeting will be raised at the UNASUR meeting of Ministers of Defense and Justice, scheduled to take place on May 3 and 4 in Cartagena, Colombia.

18 January 2012