08/19/2009

News / United States, Colombia Discuss Defense Cooperation

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States and Colombia have reached a tentative defense agreement that would allow U.S. military forces to use selected Colombian military bases in a continuing joint fight against terrorists and drug dealers.

“These threats are real, and the United States is committed to supporting the government of Colombia in its efforts to provide security for all of its citizens,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at an August 18 press briefing. “The agreement does not create U.S. bases in Colombia. The United States does not have and does not seek bases inside Colombia.”

It would allow U.S. military personnel and American contractors access to some Colombian bases, but command, administration and security will be Colombia’s responsibility. Any U.S. activity will have to be agreed upon in advance, she said.

The level of U.S. military personnel in Colombia will not change and is limited by federal law, Clinton said. In October 2004, Congress authorized the permanent or temporary assignment of up to 800 U.S. military personnel and up to 600 U.S. civilian contractors in Colombia. In recent years, the actual number of U.S. personnel has averaged half or less of the authorized number, the State Department said in a fact sheet on the U.S.-Colombia Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Responding to criticisms from the region, Clinton said this defense agreement has been built on years of agreements between the United States and Colombia. “The assassinations, the intimidation that goes on is not just a threat to the country in which it occurs, but it’s a threat to everyone,” Clinton said.

Work on the agreement is being completed and it probably will be signed in a few weeks, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters earlier.

“Our hemisphere faces a number of pressing challenges, from the economic crisis to the climate crisis to public health concerns, such as H1N1 virus, to narcotics trafficking, terrorism and organized crime,” Clinton said at the press briefing with Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez.

“So the United States and Colombia are committed to working together and to making it possible for us to deliver results for the people of our two countries,” she added.

Bermúdez said he and Clinton discussed a broad range of issues including clean energy, climate change, terrorism, drug trafficking and technology enhancement.

“As you all know, Colombia has suffered greatly as a result of narco-trafficking and terrorism, two issues that unfortunately go hand in hand and to a certain degree have become synonymous,” Bermúdez said.

Bermúdez said that in the United States, Colombia has found a partner that is offering friendship and leadership in this area. Stopping drug trafficking and terrorism, he added, requires everyone cooperating to achieve results.

“We have suffered, and we have learned from the lessons as a result of this suffering,” Bermúdez said.

Besides consultations with Clinton, during this visit Bermúdez also met with National Security Advisor James Jones, Kelly said.

http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/August/20090819124423dmslahrellek0.5412714.html?CP.rss=true

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