Nicaragua’s President on Monday urged Latin American peoples to unite in order to force the removal of airbases in Colombia that the U.S. military intend to use.
President Daniel Orgeta, a main ally to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, announced that the greatest struggle for Latin American countries was to “make dissappear once and for all … the military bases that threaten the sovereignty, integrity and peace of our people.”
Ortega denounced the recent Colombia – U.S. military agreement (which he believes to have been initiated by the George W Bush administration) as the greatest threat to Colombia and Latin American as a whole, reported Colombia media on Monday.
Ortega further declared the military bases as “symbols of war” and accused Colombia of being a “traitor” for allowing the U.S. to use its territory for military purposes.
Venezuela’s Chavez intensified the crisis with Colombia today by announcing that his country must prepare for war due to his suspicions that an attack launched from Washington against Venezuela could be imminent.
In response to Chavez’ “threats of war”, Colombia’s government stated today that it will seek advise from the UN and the Organization of American States.
Relations between Colombia and her neighbors have been under strain since Colombia began negotiations with Washington some months ago, to allow the U.S. military to have access to various airbases throughout the country. An agreement was sealed and publically revealed at the beginning of November, provoking outrage from Venezuela and Ecuador namely.