“We will do whatever we can to increase help from the United States to defeat drug trafficking,” Uribe said in an interview with RCN Radio.The President said he didn’t know if there already had been talks with the U.S. about a possible transfer. “I don’t know of talks about a military base, I know there have been talks like always (…) trying to find ways to strengthen the cooperation.” he said in the interview.Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has always openly objected the United States army base in Ecuadorean waters and implied recently he considers closing it down. The U.S. use the base for antinarcotics surveillance in the area.Last week, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield suggested the transfer of the base from hostile Ecuador to ally Colombia. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez reacted immediately when media mentioned the base would be located in La Guajira, close to the Venezuelan border. Chávez said his country would consider it “an act of war”.
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