Biden, Colombia’s Petro to meet amid deep policy differences

By ASTRID SUÁREZ and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to host Colombian President Gustavo Petro for talks at the White House later Thursday. The meeting comes amid deep differences on U.S. drug policy and about Venezuela. But the two leaders have a shared desire to deepen cooperation on climate change, migration and energy policy. Petro has sharply criticized U.S.-led efforts to prohibit cocaine, saying that oil consumption promoted by “global powers” is more deadly than cocaine and that the “war on drugs has failed.” Some U.S. lawmakers have been critical of Petro’s warming relations with President Nicolás Maduro’s in Venezuela and President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba.