<p>US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday thanked Colombian President Ivan Duque for his stance against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and pledged continued assistance to help fight drug trafficking.</p>.<p>In the fourth stop on his tour of South America, Pompeo said the partnership between Colombia and the United States was a force for good in the region.</p>.<p>"Your support for interim (Venezuelan) president Juan Guaido and the democratic transition for a sovereign Venezuela free of malign influence ... is incredibly valued," Pompeo told Duque in a joint press conference in Bogota.</p>.<p>Pompeo has used the tour to increase pressure on Maduro, who has overseen a six-year economic collapse and has been indicted in the United States on narcoterrorism charges, to resign.</p>.<p>A report this week by United Nations investigators found Maduro's government has committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity.</p>.<p>"The international community has to act to bring this situation to an end," said Duque, who calls Maduro a dictator and often accuses him of sheltering and supporting members of Colombian rebel groups.</p>.<p>The Colombian government is among more than 50 countries which consider Venezuela's opposition leader Guaido to be the country's interim president.</p>.<p>Pompeo said the United States will continue to provide expertise and resources to help Colombia fight drug trafficking.</p>.<p>Colombia faces constant pressure from the United States, a major destination for cocaine, to reduce the size of crops of coca, the drug's chief ingredient.</p>.<p>Duque has set a target to destroy 130,000 hectares (321,237 acres) of coca this year, up from 100,000 hectares last year, and has signaled aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate could restart.</p>
<p>US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday thanked Colombian President Ivan Duque for his stance against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and pledged continued assistance to help fight drug trafficking.</p>.<p>In the fourth stop on his tour of South America, Pompeo said the partnership between Colombia and the United States was a force for good in the region.</p>.<p>"Your support for interim (Venezuelan) president Juan Guaido and the democratic transition for a sovereign Venezuela free of malign influence ... is incredibly valued," Pompeo told Duque in a joint press conference in Bogota.</p>.<p>Pompeo has used the tour to increase pressure on Maduro, who has overseen a six-year economic collapse and has been indicted in the United States on narcoterrorism charges, to resign.</p>.<p>A report this week by United Nations investigators found Maduro's government has committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity.</p>.<p>"The international community has to act to bring this situation to an end," said Duque, who calls Maduro a dictator and often accuses him of sheltering and supporting members of Colombian rebel groups.</p>.<p>The Colombian government is among more than 50 countries which consider Venezuela's opposition leader Guaido to be the country's interim president.</p>.<p>Pompeo said the United States will continue to provide expertise and resources to help Colombia fight drug trafficking.</p>.<p>Colombia faces constant pressure from the United States, a major destination for cocaine, to reduce the size of crops of coca, the drug's chief ingredient.</p>.<p>Duque has set a target to destroy 130,000 hectares (321,237 acres) of coca this year, up from 100,000 hectares last year, and has signaled aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate could restart.</p>