Obama hails deepening ties with Colombia

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday applauded deepening ties with Colombia, while his Colombian counterpart suggested a reinvigorated alliance for regional cooperation. Obama told reporters that his discussions with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in his Oval Office went beyond the traditional security cooperation and widened to a "whole host of issues" including education, energy, technology and trade. "We have had an excellent conversation I think reflecting on the deepening of what have already been very strong bilateral ties between our two countries," Obama said. He voiced support for Santos' ongoing efforts to seek a lasting peace in his country through negotiations with FARC rebels. "It is not easy, there are many challenges ahead," he said. "The United States is supportive of those efforts." Obama also pledged to support Colombia's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, saying the South American nation "continues to have a strong influence regionally." For his part, Santos, on his second official visit to the United States since taking office in August 2010, suggested the launch of an Alliance for Progress and Peace, modeled on the Alliance for Progress initiated by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, to build economic cooperation between the United States and Latin America. "Circumstances are very different today, opportunities are different, and the technology we have at our disposal is very different, and therefore, there are many fronts in which we can work together," he said. He said Colombia and the United States will triple their joint efforts to help third countries, in particular those in Central America and the Caribbean. For decades, Washington's assistance to Bogota focused on fighting drug trafficking and rebel groups like the FARC.