US urges 'appropriate steps' on Colombia military accord
Agence Presse France
August 20, 2010

The United States urged Colombia's new government Wednesday to take "appropriate steps" to sustain its relations with Washington after a key bilateral military accord was declared unconstitutional.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the United States was consulting with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos about what it planned to do about the ruling by Colombia's Constitutional Court.

"There can be, you know, actions taken by the executive or by the legislative branch to overcome, you know, the questions that have been raised," Crowley said.

The court ruled that the controversial accord, which gives the US military access to seven Colombian bases, was unconstitutional because it had not been approved by the Colombian Congress.

Tuesday's ruling came as Santos, who was sworn in to office August 7, has moved to improve tense relations with neighboring Venezuela, which has vehemently opposed the October 2009 military accord as a threat to its leftist government.

Crowley said the United States looks "to the Santos government to take appropriate steps to make sure that we can sustain our bilateral relationship."

Another State Department official, Charles Luoma-Overstreet, told AFP that, in the meantime, the close US-Colombian defense relationship will continue under previously existing agreements.

Washington has responded to Latin American concerns about the bases accord by insisting that it is not aimed at third countries.

It says the agreement, which limits the number of US military personnel in Colombia to 800 and the number of US civilian contractors to 600, is aimed at fostering bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking, illegal armed groups and terrorism.

At the end of last year, the US Congress approved 46 million dollars to refurbish Colombia's Palanquero base, one of the seven included under the agreement.

But the Congress made clear it was not authorizing the establishment of a permanent US base on Colombian territory.

The United States has provided Colombia, its most important ally in South America, more than six billion dollars in aid over the past decade to combat drug trafficking and leftist guerrillas under a program known as Plan Colombia.

Source: AFP via Raw Story