President Obama and President Alvaro Uribe Velez of Colombia speak about the relationship between the US and Colombia

I have instructed Ambassador Kirk, our United States trade representative, to begin working closely with President Uribe's team on how we cn proceed on a free trade agreement.

There are obvious difficulties involved in the process, and there remains work to do. But I'm confident that ultimately we can strike a deal that is good for the people of Colombia and good for the people of the United States.

I commended President Uribe on the progress that has been made in human rights in Colombia and dealing with the killings of labor leaders there. And obviously we've seen a downward trajectory in the -- the deaths of labor unions, and we've seen improvements when it comes to prosecution of those who are carrying out these blatant human rights offenses.

President Uribe acknowledges that there remains more work to be done, and we look forward to cooperating with him to continue to improve both the rights of organized labors in Colombia and to protect both labor and civil rights leaders there.

OBAMA: Along those same lines, we obviously think that the steps that have already been made on issues like extrajudicial killings and illegal surveillance, that it is important that Colombia pursue a path of rule of law and transparency. And I know that that is something that President Uribe is committed to doing.

We spoke about the regional challenges. The drug trafficking that has been such a cancer in the life of Colombia affects the region as a whole. When I last met with President Calderon of Mexico, he indicated the extraordinary challenges that that country is facing.

Mexico and Colombia are not alone in this. Throughout the region in Central and South America, we are seeing this problem. It's important that the United States steps up and cooperates effectively in battling the adverse effects of drug trafficking. And that includes, by the way, the United States reducing demand for drugs. We have responsibilities.