Morales: Uribe betrayed Latin America
Bolivian President Evo Morales has taken a swipe at Colombia saying Bogota betrayed Latin Americans by offering Colombian bases to Washington.
“Those people who want to put military bases in Latin America are traitors of our people, traitors of Latin America and traitors of the people who have fought for their dignity and sovereignty,” Morales told his countrymen in a ceremony commemorating Bolivia’s national day on Friday.
Morales also stressed that Bogota’s plan was aimed at countering the efforts of left-wing governments, like his, that are fighting for greater social justice.
The remarks come as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe completed a three-day tour of the region to win support for more US presence on Colombian soil.
However Uribe’s efforts have so-far been met with a cold shoulder, with most Latin American countries including Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela expressing their opposition to the plan. Only the Peruvian President Alan Garcia — the other principal US ally in the region gave his support to the Uribe, whom he called “a good friend.”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the move a sign that US forces are preparing to invade his country and the president of Brazil criticized the bases as “relics of the Cold War”.
Only hours after the harsh comments and in a bid to ease the regional concerns over the issue, US President Barack Obama rejected reports about Washington’s plan to create military bases in Colombia, calling it a ‘myth’.
“There have been those in the region who have been trying to play this up as part of a traditional anti-Yankee rhetoric. This is not accurate,” Obama told reporters.
He added that the new deal was part of an old security agreement with Colombia, which has now been only ‘updated’.
Obama was referring to a security arrangement between Washington and Bogota, which would allow the Pentagon access to seven Colombian military bases, used to fight drug traffickers and guerrillas involved in the cocaine trade.
“We have no intention of sending large numbers of additional troops into Colombia…We have no intent in establishing a US military base in Colombia,” Obama claimed.
The US has been forced to look for a new base for its troops stationed in Latin America involved in what Washington calls anti-drug operations after Ecuador refused to renew the lease on its Manta base, which the US military was using.
South American leaders accuse the US of using the war on drugs in Colombia as a pretext to boost its regional military presence.
