The United States and Colombia signed two energy-related agreements on September 8, 2026, at a ceremony in Barranquilla, Colombia: a framework on securing supply in the mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths, and a memorandum on civil nuclear cooperation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Colombia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omar Bula Escobar, signed both documents at Batallon Paraiso. Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella attended as witness of honor.
What was signed
The first instrument is the Framework Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Colombia for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths. The second is the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Colombia Concerning Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation. Each title was read aloud before the signing, and applause followed both.
The read
Signing a critical minerals framework and a civil nuclear cooperation pact at the same ceremony ties Colombia into two strands of US energy policy at once: securing mineral supply chains and expanding power generation cooperation. Rubio framed the pairing as part of a broader reset in ties, telling De La Espriella that the prior four years amounted to "an aberration between our governments" and describing the wider relationship as resting on ties beyond the two governments themselves.
