Lula Says U.S. Military Based in Colombia Doesn’t ‘Please’ Him

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he regrets that Colombia is offering to host U.S. military counter-narcotics operations even as he respects the country’s sovereign right to do so.

“An American base in Colombia doesn’t please me,” Lula told reporters today in Sao Paulo today after a meeting with Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, commenting on the U.S. plans for the first time. “But just as I wouldn’t want Uribe interfering in my government, I’m not going to interfere in his,” he said, referring to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Bachelet said she shared Lula’s views “completely.” As interim head of the Union of South American Nations, she plans to call a meeting August 10 in Quito to discuss Colombia’s decision and the regional backlash it generated.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pulled his ambassador to Colombia yesterday and “froze” relations with the neighboring country while ordering a review of all their commercial ties. Chavez said he was prompted to act by the decision on the U.S. base and Colombia’s questions on how insurgents had obtained anti-tank weapons sold to Venezuela in the 1980s.

Leaders are expected to gather August 10 in the Ecuadorean capital for President Rafael Correa’s swearing in for a second term. Correa, an ally of Chavez, precipitated the U.S. move to Colombia by refusing to renew a 10-year lease on the U.S.’s use of a military base at Manta.

Lula said he was hopeful of finding a solution to the regional crisis.

“These things need to be handled with lots of care, so we don’t generate a conflict with Uribe, the U.S. or the neighbors,” said Lula. “On the 10th, we’ll all get together and with a frank conversation seek a solution.”