Colombians Protest US Presence
Bogota - Social
and political organizations in Colombia
called the people to gather on Tuesday to
protest US military presence and defend
national sovereignty.
According to the call on Monday, the
decision by President Alvaro Uribe to allow
the presence of US Army troops in several
spots of the Colombian territory, in line
with a military pact negotiated with
Washington, rides roughshod over Colombia's
independence and sovereignty.
Similarly, a call for debate was made by
members of the Polo Democratico Alternativo
Party at a plenary of the Senate of the
Republic, presided over by Senator Gloria
Ines Ramirez.
The wave of protest has been joined by
members of the executive direction of the
Unitary Workers Union (CUT), which demanded
that the government respects national
sovereignty by closing US bases in Colombian
territory.
The CUT said Uribe's decision is against the
so-far persued peace paths, thus
contributing to worsen internal conflict and
trigger external frictions.
These bases granted gracefully by the Uribe
regimen to the United States, behind the
nation and Congress' backs, add to the more
than 700 such bases the United States has
around the world, the workers central said
in a communique.
Basing foreign troops in Colombia is banned
under the Constitution, which only allows
transit on prior authorization by Congress
and the State Council, the text recalled.
Colombian Communist Party General Secretary
Jaime Caicedo said the United States has
become a fundamental factor in the
continuity of war in the country and
regional destabilization.
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