Venezuela: Colombia
Isolated In South
American Countries
Caracas - Colombia has
found itself isolated at Friday's South
American summit due to its intention to
allow more U.S. military presence in the
South American country, Hugo Chavez of
Venezuela said here Sunday.
The extraordinary summit of South American
Union of Nations (Unasur) is called to
discuss the decision made by Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe to allow the
installation of seven U.S. military bases on
the Colombian territory.
The move has come under strong criticism as
many countries warned of U.S. military
expansion in the region.
"We don't want yankee bases in South
America," the out-spoken Chavez told foreign
media at Miraflores Palace, the president's
official residence in Caracas.
The 12-nation meeting showed that South
America had backed self-determination in an
unprecedented way and rejected U. S.
hegemony, Chavez said.
On Sunday, Chavez slammed Uribe for failing
to understand the concerns of regional
leaders who asked him for a copy of the
final U.S.-Colombia military agreement.
Chavez also said that trade relations with
Colombia have remained frozen since a July
28 decision to freeze fuel exports and trade
agreements worth around 7 billion dollars
with the country.
Chavez had threatened to cut ties with
Colombia if the agreement was signed.
"Every day the chill gets stronger. I have
told the foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro,
to prepare for a full break. Since then we
have been ready but we are taking care to
bring forward action to prevent what I
believe would be a disaster on a historical
scale, a war with Colombia," he said.
He warned that three major resources in
Latin America are coveted, which are
Venezuela's oil, the forest riches of the
Amazon and Uruguay's aquifers.
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