Colombian President Alvaro Uribe arrived in Argentina to take part
in an extra summit of South American leaders on Colombia’s military
deal with the United States.
The deal, allowing the U.S. to use at least seven military bases for counternarcotics and counterinsurgency operations, has received fierce criticism by Ecuador, Bolivia and mostly Venezuela, but also causes unrest in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
The secrecy involving the deal has causes suspicion among neighboring countries, who demand Colombia to explain what the deal exactly is about. Venezuela, claiming the U.S. is enforcing military presence to take control of the country’s vast oil reserves, demands the deal to be canceled and started blocking trade with Colombia.
Colombia however seems to not want to discuss the content of the deal and wants teh South American leaders to talk about the fight against terrorists and the arming of countries like Venezuela and Ecuador.
According to Caracol Radio, the Colombians will try to take the initiative in the meeting and force tehir criticasters to speak out against terrorist groups like the FARC or ELN and to debate the massive purchase of arms by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The meeting is expected to last all day.