Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Colombia as part of a Latin American tour aimed at garnering support for the PA’s statehood bid in the United Nations

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Colombia Monday as part of a Latin American tour aimed at garnering support for the PA's statehood bid in the United Nations. Colombia currently sits in the 15-member UN Security Council, where the PA submitted a request for full UN membership last month.

Abbas was scheduled to meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday.

Late last month, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al Malki said that the Palestinians have received approval from eight members of the UN Security Council in support of their bid for full membership to the United Nations.

The Palestinians have been rigorous in garnering support from Security Council members despite US opposition. Last month, Malki said that Nigeria, a non-permanent member of the UNSC, had joined seven other nations in throwing their support behind the Palestinian-membership resolution, despite the fact that Defense Minister Ehud Barak seemed to think he had persuaded Nigeria away from the Palestinian bid.

According to Malki, the eight Security Council members who will back the resolution are Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Gabon - a Central African Nation that Israel media was reporting as being "on the fence" about the issue.