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LATIN AMERICA |
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Colombia to Allow U.S. Troops to Use Six
Bases
BOGOTA – U.S. troops will be allowed to use
six Colombian military bases and other
facilities necessary for joint operations,
the Colombian magazine Cambio reported,
citing the final text of an agreement
reached between Washington and Bogota.
“Colombia will provide the United States
access and use of three air combat command
bases, two naval bases, the army’s center
for instruction and training in Tolemaida
(central Colombia) and other units that may
be necessary for the development of joint
operations,” the magazine, which had
exclusive access to the document, reported.
The final text also states that a maximum of
800 U.S. soldiers will be given access to
the Colombian bases, although it says the
needs of the two sides will determine
whether the number of military personnel and
advisers is increased or reduced.
Likewise, “the conditions and norms
governing the use of the bases” will be
subject to joint decisions on the ground by
Colombian and U.S. troops.
Cambio also reported that the Colombian
government sent the text of the military
agreement to the Council of State, a
judicial body that reviews the
constitutionality of executive decrees and
decisions, and noted that the accord will
have to go to Congress “because a law is
needed to approve the presence of foreign
troops on national territory.”
Since the start of negotiations on the
basing deal, other countries in the region –
particularly Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and
Brazil – have raised concerns about its
potential impact on the sovereignty and
security of Colombia’s neighbors.
Seeking to defuse the controversy, Uribe
attended an extraordinary meeting of the
Union of South American Nations at the end
of August in the Argentine city of Bariloche,
where he explained the limits of the pact
and listened to the concerns of his regional
counterparts.
Cambio said that Uribe, “concerned about the
reservations expressed by other leaders,”
used legal arguments drawn from
international law in justifying the need for
Colombia and the United States to jointly
combat drug trafficking and the “terrorism”
perpetrated by the Andean nation’s leftist
rebels.
The final text of the agreement, therefore,
reads: “the two sides agree to deepen their
cooperation in areas such as
interoperability, logistics and equipment,
training and intelligence-sharing, with the
aim of tackling the common threats to peace,
freedom and democracy.”
The document also states that U.S.
authorities will investigate and prosecute
any crimes that U.S. troops stationed in
Colombia may commit.
Venezuela’s socialist leader, Hugo Chavez,
has been the most outspoken opponent of the
basing deal, saying it could spark a war in
the region.
Colombia and the United States, however,
maintain that other countries have nothing
to fear and that the agreement will bolster
the fight against drug trafficking and
terrorist activity and is necessary after
Ecuador this year ended a lease allowing
U.S. access to a base in that country.
EFEness and tranquillity” that his work on
the farm gives him, now that all his
activities are legal. EFE
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