The Ambassador of Columbia in Lebanon H.E. Mrs. Rida Khoury, presented a lecture on May 19, 2011 within the framework of a series of lectures for the 2010 – 2011 academic year, given by the ambassadors of Latin America in Lebanon, organized by the Higher Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences and the Center of Studies and Cultures of Latin America (CECAL) at USEK, under the theme of: “Foreign Policy – Latin America and its Relations with the Middle East”.

Following a historical and geographical overview on Columbia, Khoury underlined that it is necessary to strengthen bilateral relations with the Middle East and the Arab world, not only because of the important influence left by immigrants of those countries on the national culture, but also as an international strategy taking into account the increasingly important role that the Arab world is playing. Khoury asserted that the relation with Lebanon is excellent, pointing out that Lebanon is a close country to Columbia despite the long geographical distance, especially as the Lebanese represent the largest diaspora from the Middle East region in our country.