The Presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela on Friday requested an urgent meeting
with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the U.S. use of military
bases in Colombia and the country’s alleged strategy to dominate Latin America.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez showed South American Presidents attending a UNASUR summit what he said was a U.S. military strategy document and accused the North Americans of using the fight against drugs as an excuse to forward operations that seek tom dominate the hemisphere.
“[Colombian military base] Palanquero appears in a U.S. document from the beginning of this year .. qualified by this country as one of its expeditionary bases that are designated in this so-called ‘White Book’ of the U.S. Army.
“We are looking for a point in South America that could be used for counternarcotic operations as well as operations of mobility. Consequently, with the help of the Air Mobility Command, the Southern Command and the Transport Command, the Southern Command designated Palanquero, Colombia, as a location for security cooperation,” Chavez quoted from the alleged U.S. document.
The Venezuelan President continued by saying the Palanquero base will be used by the U.S. as a transport hub to control the South American continent when necessary.
Both Chavez and his Ecuadorean counterpart Rafael Correa asked Obama to meet with them urgently and want UNASUR’s Defense Council to study the possible implications for South American countries of the U.S. alleged strategy in Latin America.
“We can not accept that a military document of the United States treats us like a colony or backyard,” the Venezuelan leader concluded.
Earlier, President Alvaro Uribe, avoiding discussing the contents of the pact, defended the deal and called on neighboring countries like Venezuela and Ecuador to recognize guerrilla groups like the FARC as terrorists and actively help combating these groups and join the war on drugs.
