Colombian president visits on Thursday

On Thursday Belize will receive a visit from the head of state of Colombia. President Andres Pastrana will touch down briefly at nine-fifteen in the morning at Philip Goldson International Airport, before moving on to Mexico City for the inauguration of President Vicente Fox. Pastrana’s jet will be preceded on the tarmac by the arrival of a Colombian military C-130 loaded with nine tons of relief supplies to help victims of Hurricane Keith. Pastrana and his high level delegation will be met by Deputy Prime Minister Johnny Briceno and Ambassador James Murphy. On his return from Mexico on December third Pastrana will once again stop briefly at the airport where he will have a forty-five minute meeting with Prime Minister Said Musa. Relations between Belize and Colombia have grown closer in recent years. A delegation led by Minister of Education Cordel Hyde visited Cartagena, Colombia in August where the two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, education, sports and tourism.