U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Wednesday that Washington hopes Bogota “takes the necessary steps to preserve the bilateral military agreement,” and that in the meantime cooperation will continue under -existing agreements.
Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended the deal, ruling that it is unconstitutional until ratified by Congress.
“We will consult with the Colombian government, we understand the issues that this legal matter involves and we hope that the Santos government takes appropriate measures to guarantee that we can maintain our bilateral relationship,” Crowley continued.
“Executive or legislative actions may exist that could overcome doubts” expressed by the court, and “these are the types of questions that we are asking the Colombian government in order to understand what they plan to do,” Crowley said.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos backed a statement made by his Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera earlier Wednesday, saying that his government will abide by the court’s ruling.
Santos said his government will study the agreement and will “decide if it is worth continuing with the pact or not.”
Former commander of the Colombian armed forces General Freddy Padilla claimed Wednesday that by law, if the pact is to be ratified by the Andean nation’s Congress, then it must also be ratified by U.S. Congress. Padilla said that U.S. Congress wouldn’t ratify the pact “due to their foreign policy circumstances.”
The agreement caused tensions in the region, as neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela consider U.S. military presence in Colombia a threat to their sovereignty.