U.S., Colombia Near Deal on Military Base Access

The United States may be close to concluding an agreement that would give U.S. forces access to bases in Colombia, the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the Americas. Washington and Bogota expressed hopes that a fifth round of talks scheduled for later in July will seal a deal that would allow U.S. forces to lease space at Colombian bases for the next decade. Both inside and outside Colombia, detractors raise concerns about the plan. But the Uribe government described the pact as a way to meet top priorities. Beyond deepening bilateral ties, “the objective is the battle against and the defeat of narcotrafficking and terrorism,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez on July 15.

The months-long negotiations enter final stages as Washington’s 10-year lease expires at the air force base in Manta, Ecuador. The country’s President Rafael Correa first announced his intentions not to renew the U.S. lease for the Eloy Alfaro Air Base before his 2006 inauguration, saying it undermined Ecuador’s sovereignty.

Colombia’s relations with its neighbor have been fragile since Bogota’s March 2008 attack on a guerilla camp just across the border in Ecuador. As Semana reports, the U.S.-Colombia deal could stir up Andean tensions again. Last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez came out against a U.S. military presence in Colombia in 2008, saying it would be viewed as an act of “aggression.” On July 16, as news circulated of the impending U.S.-Colombia military pact, Bolivian President Evo Morales called Latin American leaders who accept U.S. military bases “traitors.”

The proposed U.S. presence raises hackles within Colombia as well. Colombia’s State Council said Thursday that the government would risk violating the constitution if it did not the council's approval before allowing U.S. troops to operate in Colombia. The country’s Senate remains divided on the plan. As Anastasia Moloney wrote for World Politics Review in April, the country’s main leftist opposition party called on civil society “to reject this attack against our national sovereignty” and Former Defense Minister Rafael Pardy said U.S. access to Colombian military bases would be a “diplomatic mistake” in terms of relations with neighbors.

With an eye to deflecting criticism, The Defense Ministry published a communiqué about the deal—while not yet finalized—which outlines a set of points about what the deal is and is not. The Colombian Defense Ministry says, among other details, that the pact will not permit the creation of a U.S. base in Colombia, unilateral U.S. operations without Colombian approval, operations that the Colombian Constitution prohibits, or incursions across Colombia’s borders into other countries without those countries’ permission.

In an interview with Caracol Radio, Defense Minister Freddy Padilla sought to calm neighboring countries and asserted that the plan would help Colombia root out the twin domestic woes of drug trafficking and terrorism. “What we’re doing is receiving technical assistance,” said Padilla, who added that the activities would constitute “more of the same” type of efforts pursued in the past. President Álvaro Uribe mirrored these comments in a July 16 press conference, saying the plan was in line with the country’s Constitution and said it “helps us in this battle against terrorism, against narcotrafficking.”

Cambio reports that, by September, the White House wants to move operations from Ecuador to five bases in Colombia. U.S. troops operating at bases there would assume the regional counternarcotic drug operations carried out from Manta, which housed roughly 200 soldiers and eight planes at a time. The proposed pact with Colombia would allow up to 800 troops and 600 contractors to operate in Colombian bases.

Learn More:

• AS/COA coverage of President Uribe’s recent visit to Washington.
• Americas Quarterly Web Exclusive examining Colombian-Ecuadorian relations.
• U.S. Department of State FY2009 budget request, highlighting funds earmarked for Colombian military aid.
• United States Southern Command fact sheet on U.S. presence in Latin America.
• Website of Colombia’s Ministry of Defense.
• Colombian Ministry of Defense General Freddy Padilla de Leon describes the agreement.
• Cambio coverage of the negotiations.
• Semana analysis of U.S.-Colombia relations.
• Bloggings by boz takes a look at what the U.S. military built in Manta and plans for Colombian operations.
• Latin American Thought blog raises questions about what awaits Manta.