Skip to main content
NEU Senior Industrial Organiser
Colombia joining Nato puts Latin America on edge
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May (front row from left) watch a fly-by during a summit of heads of state and government at NATO headquarters in Brussels today

While pundits concentrate on noisy clashes between Donald Trump and Angela Merkel in Brussels, few have noticed that Colombia is joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) as a “global partner,” the first Latin American country to do so. 

In doing so, it joins eight other “global partner” countries in Nato: Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Colombia has been seeking to join Nato since 2006. As a stepping stone, it signed an information sharing and security agreement in 2013 and in 2017 a partnership and co-operation programme. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
The Justice for Colombia trade union delegation
Latin America / 25 November 2025
25 November 2025

With Petro, Colombia has been making huge strides towards peace — but is all that at risk with the elections next year? MARK ROWE reports back after joining a delegation to the Latin American country

Colombia protest
Features / 31 October 2025
31 October 2025

Colombia’s success in controlling the drug trade should be recognised and its sovereignty respected, argues Dr GLORY SAAVEDRA

Pic: Official Photo by Simon Liu/Office of the President/Creative Commons
Features / 16 September 2025
16 September 2025

The US is desperate to stop Honduras’s process of social and democratic change, writes TIM YOUNG

US President Donald Trump walks up the stairs to board Air F
Features / 27 February 2025
27 February 2025
The US projects its nation’s own sins, from funding narco crime to authoritarian rule, onto its ‘back yard’ — lashing out as Latin America drifts further into the multipolar future, write FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ and ROGER D HARRIS