Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday signed a bilateral security treaty with his Colombian counterpart, Juan Carlos Pinzon, in Bogota. The two countries vowed to work more closely together to improve security strategies and to fight against outlawed armed groups. "These meetings and the conversations are good so that we can discuss the importance of moving towards a dialogue that do not simply stay on commercial issues and the common efforts against terrorism, but that would also allow us to have a relationship on a strategic level," Pinzon said. Colombia has been involved in a continous armed struggle of its own, trying to curb the activities of drug traders and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a heavily armed guerilla organization seen as one of the main cocaine traffickers in the region. Barak said he was also in Colombia to learn how the South American country had managed to improve national security in recent years. It was the defense minister's first visit to Colombia.
