Char made the assertion on a visit to the Panam Sports offices in Miami, where he met the organisation's President Neven Ilic and secretary general Ivar Sisniega.

The Colombian city are hoping to build on their hosting of this year's Central American and Caribbean Games.

According to Panam Sports, athletes, officials and sport leaders had hailed the Games as having delivered an "unprecedented level of organisation, public engagement and technical proficiency".

More than 5,000 athletes participated at the Games over the 16 days of competition.

The Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation were also claimed to have considered the Games to have been positive.

"When the Barranquilla 2018 Games came to a close, that night I felt very supported by the people," said Char.

"I felt that we had more than 1.5 million people who wanted more and from there our desire to apply was born.

"After this meeting I'm feeling more calm, confident and sure than ever that we can do it.

"I am very happy with how President Ilic received us, pleased with our dialogue and the direction set by Panam Sports which is a path that we will follow.

"We are going to do everything in our power to make the advancements to hold the Games that Barranquilla wants and deserves."

Colombia has staged one edition of the Pan American Games to date, with Cali hosting the multi-sport event in 1971.

Barranquilla, located in the north of Colombia on the country's Caribbean coast, now hopes to become the second Colombian host.

"For us it is a tremendous honour that Barranquilla wants to host the Pan American Games in 2027," Ilic said.

"Colombia has always been an example for our region, a leader of sport, and today with the opportunity to meet with the Mayor and hear it from his own mouth that Barranquilla wants the Games, it fills us with pride.

"We remain available to work together and help this dream of Barranquilla continue to grow."

While Barranquilla's candidacy has opened the process for the 2027 Pan American Games, Colombia were also revealed to be interested in staging a Youth or Junior version of the multi-sport event last month.

Panam Sports are hopeful of launching the age group editions of the Games as part of a "multi-year cycle of events".

The Pan American Junior Games are aimed to act as a bridge between the Youth Olympic Games and the Pan American Games, with all athletes competing under the age of 21.

The first staging of the multi-sport event is targeted to be in 2021, with the Games envisaged to feature 4,000 athletes.

El Salvador and Mexico are also believed to have declared their interest in hosting the first edition of the Games.

The creation of a Pan American Youth Games has been aimed at offering qualification opportunities to future editions of the Youth Olympic Games.

The first edition would be held in 2022 and would build upon the existing South American Youth Games, which are due to take place one year earlier.

Panam Sports state the Youth Games will be an under-18 event.

The Panam Sports Executive Committee are set to evaluate the potential candidates and ultimately determine a host for the first edition of the event.

The next two hosts of the senior, established, Pan American Games have already been secured.

Peru's capital Lima will host next year’s Games, while preparations for the 2023 edition in Chile's capital city Santiago are also underway.

Panam Sports claim several other countries have expressed an initial interest to bid for the 2027 Pan American Games.