Colombian and US officials signed an agreement October 30 to grant the United States the use of at least seven military bases in Colombia for ten years, an agreement that was fiercely criticized by South American leaders, Colombian civil society, and US lawmakers and humanitarian groups.
The new US air base in Palanquero will “expand expeditionary warfare capability” and “improve global reach” for “conducting full spectrum operations,” according to a newly disclosed Pentagon budget document. The Air Force document describes South America as “a critical sub region of our hemisphere where security and stability is under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, anti-US governments, endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters.” The document flatly contradicts well-publicized claims by US Ambassador William Brownfield that soldiers based in Colombia will “never, never, never” participate in armed operations, and that the base agreement doesn’t allow operations outside Colombian territory.
While the US Embassy in Bogota said the agreement enters into force immediately , a Colombian court ruling “broad and unbalanced” in favor of the United States and is not based on any previous treaty, and so must be reviewed by the Colombian Congress and Constitutional Court. The agreement puts no limits on the number of US personnel to be deployed in Colombia nor on the number of military bases they will use.
Colombia’s constitution requires legislative approval for stationing of any foreign troops on Colombian territory, as well as for all international treaties. The Colombian State Council, a court created to issue opinions on the presence of foreign troops, found that the agreement gives the US the power to decide what operations will occur, gives immunity to US troops, allows access to bases beyond the 7 bases named in the agreement, and defers the most important questions about military operations to future “operational agreements”.
The Council also reviewed 15 prior treaties and declarations cited by the Colombian government as the foundation for the current base agreement, and found that none of them offer a basis for the current agreement on stationing of military troops and use of military bases. It concludes that the agreement is a treaty, and so must be approved by the Colombian Congress and reviewed by the constitutional court. But Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, in signing the deal, said the government would bypass legislative approval of the base agreement.
In addition,-seven European organizations today called on President Obama to reconsider the agreement for the Pentagon to use seven military bases in Colombia, and urged the president to prioritize human rights in US relations with Colombia. “The militarization of Colombia,” the groups wrote, “will lead to an increase in internal destabilization, will involve even more of the civilian population in the war, increasing the violations of human rights and strengthening the resurgence of the paramilitary groups and the receding guerrilla groups.”
“This agreement extends an alliance with a murderous military, reinforces arbitrary executive power in Colombia, and is openly unconstitutional. Progressives in Congress should immediately call hearings to review and revoke the agreement,” said John Lindsay-Poland, co-director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation Latin America Program.
“There is no guarantee that Colombian territory would not be used by the US to launch military operations into third countries,” added Susana Pimiento, the Fellowship of Reconciliation Colombia Representative. “Such a condition would severely impact Colombian relations with its neighbors and the international community in general.”
