A few days ago, I sat down with representative Jim McGovern, a democrat from the third district of Massachusetts. This time the opportunity was an interview for the Colombian daily newspaper El Espectador. We had crossed path before to talk about the slim chances for a peace process in Colombia, but in recent times it was the Peace without Border concert promoted by the Colombian pop star Juanes that gave us more opportunities to get together.

On Monday, the president of Colombia Álvaro Uribe will come face to face with president Barack Obama. The meeting is scheduled at a very sensitive moment for Colombia. Used to considerable familiarity with president Bush, Colombia is probably one of the few countries in the world where the election of the first U.S. African-American president was greeted with skepticism. The leadership of the country has been anxious to approve a free trade agreement currently opposed by the U.S. Congress. Colombians took offense for such resistance.