2009-08-29 04:19:41  

    by Alejandra del Palacio

    MEXICO CITY, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) --

Presidents from the member countries of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) discussed on Friday the U.S.-Colombia military cooperation agreement, which has arose concerns among most of South American nations.  

    During the Unasur Extraordinary Summit in Bariloche, Argentina,Colombian President Alvaro Uribe made efforts to justify the agreement, but much in vain.

    CONTROVERSIAL AGREEMENT

    According to the Colombian and the U.S. governments, the agreement, which allows the presence of 800 U.S. soldiers and 600 civilian contractors from the Pentagon or U.S. security organizations for 10 years at Colombian bases, is aimed at combating drug trafficking and terrorism in South America.

    It also gives the United States the access to at least seven Colombian military bases (two aerial and five ground) and in return, Washington would offer Bogota some 5 billion U.S. dollars in aid.

    At the Unasur Summit, Uribe said the agreement does not threaten other Latin American countries. He said relevant provisions in the agreement have made it clear that the U.S. military cannot use Colombian bases to interfere in other countries' internal affairs or undermine their territorial integrity.

    However, the agreement seems to make no clear reference to the situation in the rest of the region. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa proposed that the Unasur hold a meeting with U.S. PresidentBarack Obama to clarify the controversial agreement.

    Venezuela, which borders Colombia to the north, is the most vehement opponent of the plan. Its president Hugo Chavez on Tuesday instructed the Foreign Ministry to get prepared to sever ties with Bogota.

    Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said his country shares the need of keeping South America "as a land of peace."

    Vazquez said it is necessary "to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, which are jeopardizing the life quality of the people in the region." However, Uruguay defends the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

    Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed that South Americans vote in a continent-wide referendum on the issue. Others, including Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil, supported the Unasur to intervene in the case.

    Brazil also has demanded that the bases not be used to carry out military raids against any other countries.

    Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said "what we agree (here) is a uniform doctrine" for the region, and "if someone else comes up with the decision of establishing (foreign) bases, we cannot have a different criteria."

　 COLOMBIAN DEFENSE

    The Colombian government has launched a series of attempts to defend the controversial military agreement with the United States.

    In early August, Uribe made a one-week tour around the region to explain the agreement to his counterparts. At an Aug. 10 Unasur meeting held in Quito, Ecuador, where Uribe was absent, the presidents agreed to hold the Bariloche extraordinary summit for the explanation of and discussion about the agreement.

    The agreement with the United States "is ruled by the Colombian sovereignty principle and the territorial integrity of the states," Uribe said at the extraordinary summit.

    The president argued that his country intends to seek support from other countries to fight the anti-government guerilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

    Due to the internal armed conflict, which has lasted some 40 years, "many generations of Colombians have not lived a single day of peace," Uribe said.

    Colombia and the United States accused the FARC of drug trafficking.

    Uribe criticized some countries in the region for not condemning the FARC as a terrorist group, which they regarded only as "insurgents."

    He also regretted that some countries did not share the demand for rich countries to aid the fight against drug trafficking. 

Editor: Yan

Unasur summit ends with call for peace in South America

 2009-08-29 07:52:10  

    by Alejandra del Palacio

    MEXICO CITY, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) --

The Union of the South American Nations (Unasur) Extraordinary Summit ended in Bariloche, Argentina, on Friday with a joint call for strengthening South America as "a zone of peace."

    The special summit came after Colombia reached an agreement with the United States earlier this month that would allow American troops to use military bases in Colombia's territory, raising tensions in the region, especially among neighboring countries.

    Leaders from the 12 member countries agreed to respect each other's territorial integrity and promised "to establish a mechanism of mutual trust regarding defense and security" in the region.

    The Unasur stressed that "the presence of foreign military forces cannot, with its means and linked resources to goals, threaten the sovereignty and integrity of any South American nations and, in consequence, the peace and security of the region."

    It also reaffirmed its commitment "to strength the fight and cooperation against terrorism and transnational organized crime and its related crimes," including "the traffic of small and light guns."

    During the summit, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe defended the agreement, saying the deal was aimed at fighting drug trafficking and terrorism in his country.

    He also regretted that some countries did not share the demanding expressions for the major industrialized nations to aid the fight against drug trafficking.

    However, most of the countries at the summit remained cautious about the agreement.

    Venezuela is the most vehement opponent to the agreement, and President Hugo Chavez instructed his foreign ministry on Tuesday to get prepared to sever ties with Colombia.

    Chavez has said the bases were "a threat" to his country and Colombia was conducting "a war policy," adding the agreement "could generate a war in South America."

    Brazil has demanded guarantees from Bogota that activities of U.S. soldiers be restricted to the Colombian territory.

    Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said during the opening session of the summit that Latin American countries should seek peaceful ways to solve regional disputes.

    "If we agree this (foreign bases) is an issue of national sovereignty it must be like that for everybody under any circumstance, if not we must set controller trust mechanisms to assure the sovereignty of all and each one" of the south American countries, Fernandez said.

    Meanwhile, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said his country shares the need of keeping South America "as a land of peace." However, he added that Uruguay follows the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

    Bolivia was also opposed to the deal. "So now we are drug traffickers and terrorists. When they could not call us communists anymore, they called us subversives, and then drug traffickers, and since the Sept. 11 attacks, terrorists," President Evo Moralessaid.

    Morales was referring to accusations made by the Colombian president that some countries in the region supported guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) -- considered by Washington and Bogota as a terrorist group financed by drug trafficking -- with weapons and hid the rebels in their territories.

    Fernandez suggested that Uribe let the Unasur Defense Council to review the controversial agreement. However, Uribe replied that the agreement had been reached and he would not reconsider it.

    The one-day Unasur summit was held in Llao Llao Hotel in Bariloche, in Rio Negro province, 1,627 km southwest to Buenos Aires.

    Unasur, set up in 2008, groups Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguayand Venezuela. 

Editor: Li Xianzhi