Colombia and the U.S. will soon sign an agreement that will allow Washington to have the same military presence in Colombia that it has at the U.S military base in Manta, Ecuador.
Under the accord the U.S. will help Colombia not just with help in the fight against drug trafficking but also in the fight against terrorism and criminal gangs, Cambio reported Thursday.
Colombia’s Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez stressed last week that there would be no U.S. military base in Colombia, despite US$46 million being allocated to the U.S. budget to expand Colombia’s Palanquero Air Base north of Bogota.
According to Cambio, as well as the Palanquero base, Colombia will authorize U.S. military access to four other Colombian strategic bases.
The proposed stations are: the air base close to Villavicencio, the air base Alberto Powels near Barranquilla, the Malaga base in the Pacific and Cartagena’s naval base.
The U.S. looked to Colombia to maintain its military presence in the region after the Ecuadorean Government requested the Manta base be closed by November.
Cambio also revealed that negotiations over the agreement have advanced in secret. It reported that one of the accord’s main sticking points has been Washington’s demand that all U.S. forces be immune from prosecution.
