Colombian President Alvaro Uribe met with the country’s State Council on Monday evening to present his government’s plans to allow the United States access to Colombian military bases.
Uribe was accompanied by Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio and the President’s judicial secretary, Edmundo Castillo.
None of the parties gave statements to the press after the two-hour meeting, but State Council president Rafael E. Ostau De Lafont Pianeta had said before that “if we are satisfied with the presentation of the government, we will rule positively, but it can also happen we request a new diligence.”
The U.S.-Colombian plan to allow North American troops to have access to Colombian military bases has caused controversy in the region. Neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador in particular see an expansion of U.S. military activity in South America as a threat to their countries. Both Colombia and the U.S. have always stressed that the co-operation is only to fight drug trafficking and domestic terrorism in Colombia.
