Above: the talks in Panama City (Photo: OP Panama)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Panama President Ricardo Martinelli received Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin last week for talks in Panama City.

Holguin was visiting Panama as part of a tour of Central America aimed at briefing the region’s authorities on peace negotiations currently being conducted by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

Martinelli, who was joined at the meeting by Foreign Minister Romulo Roux, said Panama was a “facilitator of dialogue,” and called the talks a “step towards national reconciliation” in Colombia.

Holguin said that Central America was an “extremely important region” for Colombia’s foreign policy, and that talks between Colombia’s government and the FARC guerrilla force will begin in October in Oslo, Norway.

Cuba and Norway will participate as guarantor countries during the negotiations, with Venezuela and Chile as facilitating countries.

Martinelli said Santos’ decision to start the dialogue with FARC “would benefit Colombia, Panama and the world.”