Pool Reports of April 20, 2023

In-town pool report #1 - Gathering for MEF

Good morning from the White House, where it's a sunny 57 degrees. I'm your print pooler for today. Pool has gathered for the virtual Major Economies Forum. Please reach out with any questions.

Here's today's schedule:

8:30 AM THE PRESIDENT convenes the fourth virtual leader-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate
South Court Auditorium
Pre-Credentialed Media and Pooled for TV (Gather 8:15 AM – Stakeout Location) [RSVP here by 5:00 AM]

2:30 PM THE PRESIDENT hosts a bilateral meeting with President Gustavo Petro of Colombia
Oval Office
In-House Pool Spray (Gather 2:20 PM – Brady Press Briefing Room)

Briefing Schedule

1:00 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

In-town pool report #2 - 2-minute warning

You can watch his remarks here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

In-town pool report #3 - Meeting begins

POTUS entered the South Court Auditorium at 8:30 am and walked over to shake hands with US Climate Envoy John Kerry, who was seated at a desk on the right side of the stage. The two laughed before POTUS walked over and sat down at a desk on the left side.

Kerry spoke first. Biden began speaking at 8:34am.

"Today, we have to do more than recognize the climate challenge," POTUS said.

He says we have to "recommit ourselves to action" and "step up our ambitions."

Please check quotes against transcript.

Again, you can watch the remarks here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

Here's the run of show, per WH:

The President is convening the fourth virtual leader-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate.

In-Person Participant
John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Virtual Participants (On-Screen)
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany
President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission
President Alberto Fernández of Argentina
President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an of Turkiye
Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency

Other Virtual Participants
Secretary-General António Guterres of United Nations
President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of United Arab Emirates
President Joko Widodo, Indonesia
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of United Kingdom
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan
President Yoon Suk-yeol of Republic of Korea
Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua of China
Minister Bhupender Yadav of India
Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher of France
Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin of Italy
Minister Adel Al-Jubeir of Saudi Arabia

Speaking Program
John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
The President

In-town pool report #4 - Remarks end

POTUS stopped speaking at 8:44 am ET.

He praised the Inflation Reduction Act as a "generational investment" in clean energy and encouraged the participating leaders to step up their commitments to meet 2030 targets. He announced he'll request funds to contribute $500 million to the Amazon and other climate-related activities over the next five years to support Brazil's new effort to end deforestation by 2030 and that the US will provide $1b to the green climate fund.

"The goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees can stay within reach. But it's going to take all of us – not just one of us. Not some of us," POTUS said.

Kerry began speaking again as pool was escorted out of the auditorium.

In-town pool report #5 - Brunch lid

We have a brunch lid until 12:30 pm.

In-town pool report #6 - Kirby joining briefing

NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby will join Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the press briefing today.

In-town pool report #7 - Briefing pushed back

The press has been delayed to 1:15 PM.

In-town pool report #8 - Two-minute warning

You can watch the briefing here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

In-town pool report #9 - Briefing begins

WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took the podium at 1:24pm. NSC spokesperson John Kirby is in the room as well.

Watch here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

In-town pool report #10 - Briefing ends

The briefing ended at 2:20 pm.

Karine spoke for about six minutes before turning the podium over to Kirby to preview the president's bilateral meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro this afternoon. Kirby took questions for about 25 minutes before Karine took over the briefing.

We're gathering for the bilat.

In-town pool report #11 - Petro arrival

The President of Columbia will be arriving to the Stakeout Location (West Wing Lobby) at ~ 2:25 PM.

In-town pool report #12 - Petro bilat

Pool entered the Oval Office at 2:43pm.

Please check quotes against the transcript.

POTUS was seated with Colombian President Gustavo Petro with their respective translators. He wished Petro a happy birthday (Petro turned 63 yesterday).

POTUS called Colombia a "keystone" partner in the region.

He thanked Petro for the hospitality and support Colombia has shown to Venezuelan refugees and for his "outspoken and strong commitment to human rights across the region."

POTUS said as they begin "the next century of our partnership, I believe we can do even more deepen and develop cooperation."

POTUS stopped speaking at 2:48pm.

Petro then spoke: "the concept of democracy and freedom is not etched in stone...rather it is a flow, it flows along and it evolves with history." He said the two countries share a common agenda of "democracy, freedom and peace."

"if we put together these pillars - political and economic - on the political side, democracy, freedom and peace, and on the economic side, building decarbonized economies, then I think we can have a common destiny whereby this region of the Americas, can become a beacon for all humankind."

Biden says he believes "we're making real progress toward a carbon-free environment."

Both leaders stopped speaking at 2:54pm. They did not respond to shouted questions and pool was escorted out.

Delegations, per WH:

U.S. Delegation
The President
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
T.H. Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
T.H. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President & Homeland Security Advisor
T.H. Samantha Power, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
Mr. Francisco Palmieri, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at U.S. Embassy Bogota, Colombia
T.H. John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
T.H. Chris Dodd, Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas
T.H. Juan Gonzalez, Special Assistant to the President & National Security Council Senior Director for Western Hemisphere
T.H. Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Columbia Delegation
H.E. Gustavo Petro, President of the Republic of Colombia
H.E. Alvaro Leyva, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ms. Laura Sarabia, Chief of Cabinet, Office of the President
H.E. Ivan Velasquez, Minister of National Defense
H.E. Nestor Osuna, Minister of Justice
H.E. Luis Gilberto Murillo, Ambassador of Colombia to the United States
Mr. Juan Sebastian Jimenez, Advisor, Office of the Chief of Staff

In-town pool report #13 - Petro at the sticks

Petro is expected to come to the sticks to speak. We don't have exact timing, but reporters are gathered outside.

In-town pool report #14 - Petro comments/Lid

Petro came to the sticks at 4:30. He was handed a pen and briefly walked back into the WH before returning to speak.

He answered one question in English on Ukraine (as translated by his translator):

Q: You rejected a U.S. proposal to send Russian-made weapons to Ukraine; do you stand by this and did you discuss it?

He said the arms in question were bought by the previous administration and included helicopters. "The position of the current government is they're not going to be used in war. They're not going to Ukraine, they're not going to Russia."

Please check against the transcript. A big thanks to Josh Wingrove for the assist.

That's a lid. Have a great night!

Foreign pool report #1 – Background

¡Hola a todos!

I will be your foreign pooler for the bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. The meeting is scheduled for 2:30 pm. Petro will probably make a quick stop at the stakeout after the bilat.

Meetings/calls:
Today's bilateral meeting is the first for both leaders as presidents, taking place eight months after Gustavo Petro's inauguration. The U.S. Presidential Delegation that attended his inauguration was led by USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
POTUS spoke with Petro on the phone on June 21, 2022, just 48 hours after Petro won Colombia´s presidential runoff. In October 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Petro in Bogota.
Both presidents participated in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2022.

Schedule:
Petro arrived in the United States on Sunday night.
On Monday, he participated in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and met with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. While in New York, he also met with the CEO of Americas Society/Council of the Americas, Susan Segal.
On Tuesday, Petro visited Stanford University in California where he met with Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and gave a talk titled "Environmental and Social Justice: A Look from Latin America" at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
On Wednesday, Petro delivered a speech at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. In the afternoon and evening, he also met with members of the House of Representatives and the Colombia Caucus.
On Thursday morning, Petro met with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Jim Risch (ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee), and Senator Bob Menendez (Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). He does not have any more events in the public agenda after the bilat with POTUS. He will return to Colombia on Friday morning.

Priorities for the bilat:
This morning, Petro told reporters that he plans to address the U.S.-led war on drugs during his meeting with President Biden. "We believe that the war on drugs has failed. These 50 years have shown an absolutely disastrous balance in numbers both here, in the United States, and in our Latin America," he said. Petro insisted that there needs to be more investment in agriculture because "the more food we produce, the fewer drugs will be exported." Petro has long criticized the punitive approach to the drug trade, which he believes harms small farmers in developing nations. The U.S. has expressed concern over the increasing coca cultivation in Colombia. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia's potential cocaine output rose by 14% to 1,400 metric tons in 2021, and the area sown with coca increased by 43% to 204,000 hectares (500,000 acres).

As part of the conversation about drug policy, Petro wants to discuss with Biden his proposal of "total peace." Today, he stated that the "path to peace passes through understanding the circumstances that humanity lives in different ways" and a new approach to drug policy. Currently, Petro's government is engaged in talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN. Additionally, the largest dissident group from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), has announced its willingness to negotiate peace starting on May 16th. Petro's government has not yet commented on this announcement.

Petro also said today that he will prioritize discussing with Biden policies to combat climate change, advance the transition away from fossil fuels, protect the Amazon, and enhance rural development.

Furthermore, while at the United Nations on Monday, Petro told reporters that he will ask Biden to ease sanctions on Venezuela. NSC Director for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez, speaking in a debate hosted by your pooler's outlet EFE on Tuesday, suggested that sanctions could be part of the discussion, but emphasized that any easing of sanctions would only occur in exchange for concrete steps toward free and fair elections. Colombia will host an international conference on the political situation in Venezuela on April 25th, with delegations from different countries, including the United States, expected to attend.

It's possible that Petro and Biden may discuss the issue of migration, given that Colombia is hosting a large number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and many of them transit through Colombia on their way to the United States. On April 11th, the United States, Colombia, and Panama announced a joint campaign aimed at stopping illegal migration through the Darien Gap, where the flow of migrants has increased this year.

Delegation joining Petro at the White House, per the Colombian Presidency:
Chief of Staff of the Presidency Laura Sarabia
Minister of Defense Iván Velásquez
Minister of Justice Néstor Osuna
Minister of Foreign Affairs Álvaro Leyva
Colombian Ambassador to the United States Luis Gilberto Murillo

Bio:
Gustavo Petro made history on August 7, 2022, when he became Colombia's first left-wing president. As a curiosity, Petro's birthday was yesterday and he turned 63.
At the age of 17, in the early 1980s, he joined the Marxist guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (M-19), which was involved in a number of armed actions against the government. After the demobilization of the M-19 movement, former members (including Petro) formed a political party called the M-19 Democratic Alliance. In 1991, Petro was elected to a seat in the Colombian House of Representatives.
Petro has an extensive political career, having served twice in the Colombian House of Representatives from 1991-1994 and 1998-2006. He also held positions in the Senate from 2006-2010 and 2018 until his election as president in July 2022. Additionally, he served as the mayor of Bogota from 2012 to 2015, where he implemented various progressive policies, although his tenure was not without dispute.
Petro and his running mate Francia Márquez emerged victorious in the run-off election on June 19 2022 with 50.44% of the popular vote. Petro's presidential win marked his third attempt at the presidency, after unsuccessful runs in 2010 and 2018.

Foreign pool report #2– POTUS bilat with Petro

When the pool entered, Petro and POTUS were seated next to each other.

Petro said that the common agenda is based on "democracy," "liberty" and "peace." "Today the planet demands an economic transformation," he said.

He said that the "whole earth" calls for the end of the "ambition" surrounding fossil fuels, something that has "evolved like an hurricane and has threatened our existence." Petro advocated for an economy that doesn't use coal or gas.

Biden wished happy birthday to Petro. He turned 63 yesterday.

Neither president responded to shouted questions.

Check quotes against the transcript. I will send fuller quotes momentarily.

Foreign pool report #3– Fuller quotes

Here fuller quotes. Please check against the transcript.

Biden started the meeting wishing happy birthday to Petro, who turned 63 yesterday. Petro responded: "They say that in this generation having 63 is like being 40 in the old generation." Biden said that he "fully subscribed to that."

Petro started talking about the history of the Americas. "Unlike other parts of the world, our countries have grown since their founding with the concepts of democracy and freedom."

"The concept of democracy and freedom are not set in stone, rather it flows, it flows, and it evolves with history and becomes even more profound"

"We are going down the same river, a river that leads to even greater democracy and even greater freedom. We also have in common that in this hemisphere there have almost never been war, between the nations, between the peoples. We are well accustomed to peace and not war."

"Therefore, democracy freedom and peace constitute our common agenda"

"We need to move from fossil fuels, from the greed of fossil fuels, which has evolved like a hurricane that is threatening our existence, to an economy that does not use coal, oil or gas"

"If we put together these pillars, these political and economic pillars. On the political side, democracy freedom and peace; on the economic side, building decarbonized economies, then I think we can have a common destiny where this region of the Americas can become a beacon of all humankind."

Foreign pool report #4 - Petro is expected to talk at the stakeout

He is expected to talk shortly, but we don't have an exact time. Press is already gathered here.

Foreign pool report #5 - Petro heading to sticks

The President of Colombia Gustavo Petro is headed to the Stakeout location now

Foreign pool report #6 - Petro quote about Ukraine

Petro took several questions. The last one was about Ukraine

"The previous Colombian governments purchased Russian weapons quite some time ago. My position on those weapons, which are now in the possession of the Colombian State, is that they are not going to war. They are not going to Russia or Ukraine."

Foreign pool report #7 - Fuller quotes Petro stakeout

Petro spoke in Spanish, here are some quotes.

First, he said he talked with President Biden about the US pledge of $500 million to curb Amazon deforestation. In this regard, they also discussed debt-for-climate swaps.

Secondly, they talked about the construction of an alliance for progress, for instance, building an electric grid that integrates the continent. Also, they talked about how the US can help with the agrarian reform his government is trying to implement, and they linked that with an "efficient" policy against narcotrafficking.

Third, they talked about the sanctions on Venezuela. Petro said that 20 foreign ministers from Europe, Latin America, and the United States will attend the international conference on Venezuela that Colombia is hosting next week. Petro said that he put a new strategy on the table. "A strategy was proposed on the table which is to hold elections first and then lift sanctions, or gradually, as an electoral agenda is fulfilled, those sanctions are also lifted in parallel," Petro explained.

Fourth, Petro said he talked with Biden about the war on drugs and said he asked Biden for help. Specifically, he said: "It is one thing to spray a plant and some human beings who are economically weak, and another thing is to pursue the drug trafficking business community, which is done through intelligence work, tracing their assets and their money, and which is done through intersection." And added: "I requested a little more help in that regard. We need more vessels, more boats, more drones."

Lastly, Petro said they talked about migration. "There is an awareness that if economic and social conditions do not improve in the countries of origin, it is useless to criminalize immigrants in the destination countries."