SOUTH AMERICA: Uribe Defends US Base Deal
from Neighbours
By
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES (IPS) - At a special summit
Friday in Argentina, the presidents of the
Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)
questioned the agreement under which
Colombia will allow the United States to use
seven military bases in its territory.
After a debate that dragged on for nearly
seven hours, instead of three as planned,
the leaders meeting in the ski resort town
of Bariloche in southern Argentina agreed
that their defence ministers will carry out
an in-depth analysis of the implications of
the controversial bilateral agreement
between Colombia and the U.S., and propose
steps to be taken.
The actual contents of the deal to be signed
by the governments of Colombia and the
United States have not yet been divulged.
Although the climate was not as hostile as
expected, the presidents and other
representatives of the 12 UNASUR nations
expressed their fears and concerns over the
bilateral agreement, with varying degrees of
vehemence and bluntness.
At the request of rightwing Colombian
President Álvaro Uribe, the meeting was
broadcast live – a decision that was later
criticised by Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, who said it conspired
against the final outcome of the summit.
Much of the debate focused on the conflict
between Colombia and the governments of
neighbouring Venezuela and Ecuador, which
Uribe accuses of supporting the FARC
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)
guerrillas and of failing to cooperate with
his country's fight against drugs.
Working against the clock after a marathon
of discussions, the presidents signed a
brief statement saying the UNASUR countries
will continue "to abstain from resorting to
the threat or use of force against the
territorial integrity" of another of the
bloc's member states.
They also reaffirmed that "the participation
of foreign military forces cannot threaten
the territorial sovereignty of any South
American nation," and instructed their
defence ministers to meet in September to
design measures to build "confidence and
security" in the region.
Civil society also made its presence felt at
the meeting in Bariloche. A network of
organisations called on the governments to
discuss "the questions of peace, regional
security and the fight against drug
trafficking from a multilateral standpoint."
The Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil
por la Paz (Permanent Civil Society Assembly
for Peace), which groups some 100 Colombian
organisations, once again presented a
document containing proposals for bringing
about peace in Colombia and "overcoming the
diplomatic crisis between that country,
Ecuador and Venezuela."
The petition had already been presented at
the last regular UNASUR summit, on Aug. 10
in Quito.
"We urge the UNASUR governments to evaluate
the results of the militarisation of the
fight against illegal drugs and the
implications of the indefinite prolongation
of Colombia's armed conflict for security
and integration in the region," says the
document, which suggests a dialogue between
the region and Washington to forge "an
alliance between equals."
In a climate of tension, Uribe began by
explaining that the agreement with the U.S.,
which drew an outcry from Colombia's
neighbours, "does not imply an abdication of
Colombian sovereignty," but is aimed at
fighting drug trafficking and the FARC, with
"shared responsibility" on the part of
Washington.
But Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
maintained that the agreement is part of
"the U.S. global strategy of domination" of
the region. "That is the reason that they
want to establish bases in Colombia," he
charged.
To back up his arguments, he held up a U.S.
document on "Air Mobility Command" which, he
said, discusses at length the control that
the bases would give the United States over
South America, to carry out operations
within and outside the region.
In Washington, a U.S. Defence Department
spokesperson said the document, the "White
Paper Air Mobility Command: Global En Route
Strategy", was an "academic" study.
The presidents agreed that their defence
ministers would study the document carefully
and deliver a report on it to the UNASUR
heads of state.
Bolivian President Evo Morales insisted that
the summit statement reject foreign bases in
the territory of the member countries.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández, who
urged the leaders to leave aside "strident"
speeches, recommended defining a common
"doctrine" against foreign military bases,
so that the same criteria would prevail in
other cases, regardless of the country
involved.
And Brazil's Lula asked Colombia for "legal
guarantees" that there would be no
incursions by foreign troops into
neighbouring countries.
But none of the three initiatives made it
into the final document.
Nor did Lula persuade the other countries to
try to organise a meeting with U.S.
President Barack Obama – an idea that was
backed by Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa
but not Uribe, who said "We don't believe we
should call President Obama to account."
The Colombian president, meanwhile, lamented
that the region did not declare the FARC a
terrorist group, as the United States and
the European Union have done, and said
Colombia's neighbours should get more
involved in the counterinsurgency struggle.
"We are very concerned that these groups are
not being treated with severity, and that
they are supplied with weapons from other
countries," he said.
Chávez said he would not respond to "slander
and lies" and Correa retorted that while
Ecuador and Venezuela do not have problems
with drug crops, production in Colombia is
growing and the problem is turning its
neighbours into the "victims" of an
unresolved internal matter.
The Bariloche meeting was scheduled at the
UNASUR summit held Aug. 10 in Ecuador, which
Uribe was unable to attend, when the other
countries found out about Colombia's
military base agreement with the U.S.
In the face of the angry reactions, Uribe
made a lightning tour of seven countries –
which did not include Venezuela or Ecuador –
to convince his fellow leaders that the
bilateral agreement was merely aimed at
strengthening Colombia's fight against drugs
and leftist insurgents and posed no risk at
all to its neighbours.
But the generalised rejection of the bases
and the angry voices of Chávez and Correa
created an antagonistic climate ahead of the
summit. The Venezuelan leader, who recently
"froze" his country's relations with
Colombia, said "winds of war" were blowing
in the region.
Taking a more moderate tone, Presidents
Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Tabaré Vázquez
of Uruguay, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and
Alan García of Peru referred to the
principle of non-intervention in the affairs
of other countries, but also called for
"openness" and "transparency" in Colombia's
agreement with the United States. |
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