Venezuela,
Wary of U.S.-Colombia
Military Deal, Plans To Buy Russian Tanks
Carcas - Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday announced
a plan to buy Russian tanks in response to a
pending deal on boosting U.S. military
presence in neighboring Colombia, as
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe continued
his regional tour to seek support for the
deal.
"We are going to buy several battalions of
Russian tanks," as the pending deal was a
"hostile act" and "true threat" to
Venezuela, Chavez told reporters.
He did not say how many tanks he plans to
buy, but noted that each battalion typically
has about 40.
He also failed to mention how much Venezuela
intends to spend on these tanks.
Under the pending Colombian-U.S. deal,
Washington could gain access to at least
seven Colombian military bases by the year
2019, and in return, Washington would offer
Bogota some 5 billion U.S. dollars in aid.
"These bases could be the start of a war in
South America," Chavez warned.
REGIONAL CONCERN
Though Washington and Bogota have said the
plan was designed to strengthen Colombia's
anti-drug and anti-rebel efforts, many South
American countries have voiced their
concern.
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday
said the increase of U.S. military presence
in the region was not for battling Colombian
rebels or drug traffickers.
"It is for the region... Our duty is to
reject it," Morales told a press conference
at the Quemado Palace.
"The installation of U.S. bases in Latin
America represents a blatant aggression to
regional sovereignty and dignity," he said.
Brazil, which has a strong say in regional
affairs, also refuses to support the
U.S.-Colombian plan.
President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva last
week said he did not like the idea, while
his foreign affairs advisor Marco Aurelio
Garcia said "foreign bases in the region
look like relics of the Cold War."
Aurelio said Washington's relations with
some South American countries are very
tense, and that such a deal would not help
ease the tension.
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in an
article published on Cuban media, supported
Chavez's purchase plan, saying the threat
that Washington has imposed "is directed at
all the countries" in South America.
URIBE'S EFFORTS TO HEAD OFF OPPOSITION
Colombia's Uribe, who is halfway through a
regional tour that was designed to win more
support for the pending deal, has managed to
produce some, if not big, success.
In Chile, though he was greeted by protests
outside the La Mondeda Palace, he succeeded
in heading off Chilean President Michelle
Bachelet's opposition.
Bachelet, who last week said the Colombian
decision to offer U.S. military access made
all the region uneasy, changed her tone
after meeting with Uribe by calling the U.S.
base deal an internal affair of Colombia.
Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez
told reporters: "The decisions that every
country takes are sovereign and must be
respected."
Uribe won solid support from his Peruvian
counterpart Alan Garcia, who said Colombia
has provided a democratic model for the
whole region to follow.
Uribe was also scheduled to visit Paraguay,
Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.
A summit of the Union of South American
Nations slated for next Monday is expected
to discuss the issue, and Morales said he
would call on his counterparts in the region
to reject the U.S.-Colombian pact. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
