Via Reuters Colombia, U.S. sign military cooperation deal
U.S. and Colombian officials say the American military presence in the Andean country will not exceed caps previously set by the U.S. Congress of 800 military personnel and 600 contractors.Washington is relocating its regional anti-narcotics hub to Colombia after the leader of Ecuador, Chavez ally Rafael Correa, refused to extend the U.S. mission in his country. Bolivia and Nicaragua also oppose the U.S.-Colombia deal.
The U.S. government already has appropriated $46 million to fund the new arrangement. Most will go to refurbish the Palanquero air force base near Bogota.
Colombia, the most reliable U.S. ally in South America, has received around $6 billion in mostly military aid from Washington since 2024.
One suspects that the flow of money will continue unabated.
In terms of domestic Colombian politics, the deal has created some inter-branch tensions:
Colombia’s conservative President Alvaro Uribe decided not to send the pact to Congress for consideration as recommended last week by a Colombian court. The accord has been criticized locally for granting U.S. troops immunity from criminal prosecution in Colombia.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments/Trackbacks (1)|
The views expressed in the comments are the sole responsibility of the person leaving those comments. They do not reflect the opinion of the author of PoliBlog, nor have they been vetted by the author.
November 5th, 2024 at 9:12 am
[...] had noted last week when the deal was signed that the Uribe administration had chosen not to allow the Colombian [...]