![](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2009/6/29/2009629234655494580_5.jpg)
The deal to expand the U.S. military presence in Colombia has been
the main focus of the Union of the South American Nations (UNASUR) extraordinary summit today in Argentina.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez- who has been the most vociferous opponent of the pact- claimed that the deal is part of a U.S. plan
of “global domination” in Latin America. Bolivia’s Evo Morales claimed that the sovereignty of states cannot “be brought or sold” and proposed that UNASUR signed a declaration prohibiting foreign countries from establishing a military presence. UNASUR president pro-tempore and Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa
questioned the reasoning behind the pact that could be exploited for increased U.S. interventionism.
More moderate leaders also expressed their displeasure with the pact whose reported purpose is of combating narcotrafficking in the Americas. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner warned that "tomorrow, another country might want to
do the same thing (with another foreign power)." Ahead of the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged that his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe “
make written guarantees at the summit.” Chile’s Michelle Bachelet claimed that she has not read the agreement since neither officials in Bogotá or Washington have released the plan’s details.
For his part, Uribe
defended the deal by claiming that its Colombia’s sovereign right to combat narcotrafficking. Uribe refused to explain the plan in more detail and instead choose to launch salvos against Colombia’s leftist guerillas.
Much like Uribe, U.S. officials have
been mostly mum over the intricacies of the pact that is expected to soon be signed:
(The US deputy assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, Christopher McMullen) asserted that the US military had enjoyed access to Colombian bases "for many years" and the planned deal was just an expansion of a longstanding accord.
He noted that under a current cap imposed by the US Congress, the number of US military personnel in Colombia was limited to 800. There have been only around 270 deployed over the past three years, he said.
Image- Al Jazeera English (The presidents of Colombia and the U.S. recently met for discussions at the White House.)
Online Sources- AFP, Colombia Reports, El Tiempo, El Espectador, AP, NPR