U.S. Personnel in Former "Despeje," U.S. Embassy Bogotá, February 25, 2002

U.S. Personnel in Former "Despeje," U.S. Embassy Bogotá, February 25, 2002

U.S. Personnel in Former "Despeje"

As press reports have indicated, four officials assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá traveled Saturday, February 23, to San Vicente de Caguan. The officials included two officers assigned to the Embassy's Defense Attaché's office, one State Department employee and one employee of USAID.

These U.S. officials traveled to San Vicente with the prior permission of Colombian authorities. They arrived in San Vicente on the morning of February 23 and returned to Bogotá on the afternoon of the same day.

U.S. Embassy personnel throughout world travel regularly within their country of assignment. The regular duties of Embassy personnel include "on the ground" observation of changing conditions. In San Vicente, Embassy officials were observing changing civil and military conditions in the former "Zona del Despeje," including a potential change in the humanitarian situation.

Bogota, D.C.
February 25, 2002

As of March 6, 2002, this document was also available online at http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwws0050.shtml