New Colombia gov't offers 'huge opportunity' to tackle deforestation-U.S. official

Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Juan Gonzalez, Special Assistant to U.S. President Joe Biden, and Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, attend a news conference of the presidential delegation of the U.S. for the inauguration of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Bogota, Colombia, August 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mariana Grei

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Planned policy shifts under Colombia's new leftist President Gustavo Petro represent a "huge opportunity" in the fight against deforestation and climate change, United States official Samantha Power said on Monday.

Though progress against deforestation and climate change is elusive, Colombia is a regional leader in the fight to stop both, Power, the administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), told journalists in Bogota on Monday.