Uribe ignora Unasul e confirma bases dos EUA na Colômbia

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Uribe not to attend UNASUR meeting on US army bases
Friday, 31 July 2009 14:48
Katharina Wecker

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe will not attend a meeting of SouthAmerican leaders to discuss his decision to host U.S. military basesin Colombia.The government considered that the UNASUR (Union of South AmericanNations) meeting in Quito, Ecuador, is not the appropriate place todiscuss the military agreement between Colombia and the United Statessince it is only a deal between two nations, newspaper El Espectadorreported Friday."This agreement seeks to combat terrorism and not neighboringcountries," a source of the Casa de Nariño said when announcing thatUribe and Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez will not attend the meeting.Colombia "is not the aggressor of the international community, it isrespectful to the law. Our biggest problem is internal terrorism, thisis the reason for our fight and with this international relations mustbe patient," Uribe said.Ecuador and Venezuela do not welcome the U.S. military bases inColombia. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is afraid that the UnitedStates will use the bases to invade Venezuela. Last week, Chavezordered tanks to the Colombian border after both Colombia and the U.S.announced the approaching increased co-operation deal. On Tuesday,Chavez froze relations with Colombia.The U.S. and Colombia are working on an agreement to allow the UnitedStates to use Colombian air bases for its 'war on drugs' in theCaribbean and Atlantic. The U.S. were conducting operations from anairbase in Ecuador (Manta), but have been told that this contract willexpire in November.