Former Cuban President Fidel Castro on Wednesday condemned the U.S. government for signing the military pact with Colombia which gives the U.S. access to military airbases in the Latin American country.
Castro openly announced that he considered the agreement, which was signed last Friday and made public today, to be a “heinous” threat to Latin America and its people, reported Colombian media on Wednesday.
“The President of the United States is wrong and his advisors are wrong to continue down this sordid route, treating the people of Latin America with such contempt,” Castro was reported declaring.
The agreement between the two countries will enable U.S. military personnel to have access to various airbases throughout Colombia.
The former leader of Cuba’s Communist Party, which remains in office today, said the fight against drug trafficking, terrorism and arms trafficking were arguments used by Washington to increase U.S. military presence in Colombia while Castro emphasized that Latin America’s issues with drugs arose primarily due to the immense North American drug market.
Castro directed his comments at the new U.S. President, Obama, stating that the “infamous” military pact with Colombia violated constitutional and ethical laws while the “fruits of the fatal Yankee base in Honduras are still being clearly exhibited to the world.”
Castro reiterated his support for Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, who has readily denounced the military agreement and frozen diplomatic relations with Colombia as a result.
The 84 year old former Cuban President stated that he considered the agreement to have been “imposed on the people of Colombia” and to contain “expansionist clauses that its authors have not even had the courage to print.”
