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10 de agosto de 2009The South American Nations summit in Ecuador’s capital faces a mounting campaign by Latin American leaders to bring Colombian-U.S. military cooperation on its agenda. Venezuela, Bolivia and host Ecuador have said they are opposed to any U.S. military presence in Colombia, which Bogota says will be part of its war on drugs and terrorism.
Brazil and Chile distanced themselves from the anti-Colombian rhetoric, both pointing out that Colombia as a sovereign nation was within its rights to decide the kind of military cooperation it chose to have with the United States. Earlier the two nations had expressed concern, in response to Venezuelan pronouncements, over Colombia’s plans to enter into comprehensive military cooperation with the United States to fight drug cartels and terrorism.
Both Brazil and Chile have indicated they still want Colombian-U.S. military relations discussed at the summit, which opens Saturday.
Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez said his nation would respect any Colombian decision to allow the United States to use Colombian military bases for anti-drug trafficking operations. He, too, emphasized Colombia’s sovereignty, a point acknowledged by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in his comments on the controversy.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is currently on a tour of Latin American countries ahead of the summit to garner support for his plans for closer military ties with the United States, or at least to blunt opposition led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Since the first reports on the Colombian-U.S. military cooperation earlier in the summer, Chavez has denounced the plans, accused Colombia of agreeing to host new U.S. military bases and characterized the Colombian-U.S. tie as a preparation for war on Venezuela.
The furor over the U.S. military in Colombia appeared to sideline the stalemate in Honduras over the refusal by leaders of a June 28 coup to agree to mediation with ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya.
Strikes and work stoppages in protest against the coup have cost Honduras millions in lost production and suspended aid flows from international donors, including the European Union. The United States favors Zelaya’s return to power as constitutional president and has declined to recognize the de facto regime of coup leader and interim President Roberto Micheletti.
Analysts said the Quito summit could be taking place amid ambiguity on the two issues at the top of its agenda — Colombia and Honduras. Host Ecuador has yet to acknowledge if it will accept Colombian representation at the summit, and there is no indication yet if Honduras will attend.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who will preside over the conference, has received requests from two member countries to table motions related to U.S. military presence in Colombia, Ecuador’s Foreign Affairs Minister Fander Falconi announced.
He did not name the countries, and analysts said one of the countries cited by Falconi as instigators for the discussion could be Ecuador itself. Venezuela is most likely the first, as Chavez is seen as chief architect of the moves to bring the topic on the summit agenda, said the analysts.
Falconi said Ecuador would regard as logical a decision by Colombia to stay away from the summit. The two countries suspended their diplomatic ties in 2008 after Ecuador took offense at a Colombian military incursion in pursuit of FARC insurgents. Colombia blames the rebels for supporting the drug cartels to fund FARC’s anti-government campaign.
