The White House has confirmed President Barack Obama will welcome Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to the White House in February.

Obama and Santos will meet for an "official working visit" on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. The date of the meeting, according to the White House, will coincide with the 15th year of bipartisan cooperation of Plan Colombia, a bilateral effort to establish a thriving future for Colombians.

Santos' U.S. visit will also given him the opportunity to further promote and commemorate the peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. In late September, through talks in Cuba, the Colombian government and FARC reached "major breakthroughs" on issues affecting both groups that included transitional justice, disarmament and a timetable to sign a final peace agreement after more than 50 years of conflict.

"We applaud President Santos and his negotiating team for their efforts to reach a just and lasting peace with the FARC," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sept. 23. "We are hopeful the parties will soon conclude a final agreement to end this terrible war. The Colombian people deserve a just and durable peace, and this will be their victory."

Santos has had a close relationship with the Obama administration. On Dec. 8, Biden spoke with Santos by phone to discuss bilateral relations. The call comes after Obama met with Santos during the Summit of the Americas conference in Panama City in early April.

The U.S. has been involved in Colombian affairs, especially with a drug interdiction assistance program in cooperation with the Colombia government. In August 2014, in guidance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995, Obama authorized two measures "with respect" to Colombia to combat the illicit drug trade stemming from the South American country. The first measure states that aircraft "reasonably suspected" of illicit drug trafficking will be prohibited from flying. The second requires Colombia to have appropriate procedures in place to protect against "innocent loss of life in the air and on the ground in connection with such interdiction."

When asked why the U.S. doesn't have a similar "Plan Colombia" initiative in Central America, namely in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Biden said, "Because Central American governments aren't even close to being prepared to make some of the kind of decisions that the Colombians made, because they're hard."

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.