Colombian president Alvaro Uribe will travel to Brazil Thursday to meet
with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to explain the
planned agreement with the U.S. about the use of military bases in
Colombia.
According to El Espectador, Uribe’s plan is to give Lula first-hand information about the agreement with the United States which Lula then can present at the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) meeting in Quito, Ecuador, next week.
Uribe decided not to attend the meeting considering that it is not the appropriate place to discuss the military agreement between
Colombia and the United States since it is only a deal between two
nations.
Instead, the Colombian President and the Foreign Minister will talk to various Latin American countries (Peru, Chile, Brasil and Paraguay) to make them less hostile towards the U.S. military agreement.
Last week, da Silva expressed he was “unhappy” about the deal made between Colombia and the U.S.
Foreign Minister of Brazil, Celso Amorim, this weekend also expressed his “concern” about the “strong military presence” in Colombia which the agreement generates. “Colombia is a sovereign country and has the right to do what they want in their territory… but it is important to have transparency and clarity.”
The U.S. and Colombia are working on an agreement to allow the United States to
use Colombian air bases for its ‘war on drugs’ in the Caribbean and
Atlantic. This agreement has caused great controversy among the Latin American countries, especially with Venezuela. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez considers the presence of U.S. military in Colombia as a “threat” and as a sign of protest froze all diplomatic relations with Colombia.
