Throwing Bullets at Failed Policies: US Plans for New Bases in Colombia

http://www.truthout.org/091309Z

It was a winter day in the Argentine city of Bariloche when 12 South American presidents gathered there on August 28. It was so cold that Hugo Chavez wore a red scarf and Evo Morales put on a sweater. The presidents arrived at the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) meeting to discuss a US plan to establish seven new military bases in Colombia. Though officials in Colombia and the US say the bases would be aimed at combating terrorism and the drug trade, US military and Air Force documents point to other objectives.
Earlier his year, when Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa decided to not renew the US lease on the military base in Manta, Ecuador, the US set its sights on Colombia, a long-time US ally and one of the biggest recipients of US military aid in the world. Under the agreement the US eventually developed with Colombia, the US would have access to seven military bases for ten years, stationing up to 1,400 US personnel and private contractors.
One US military document cited by the AP explains that the Palenquero base in Colombia - which the US plans to transform with a $46-million upgrade - would be a stopping-off point for the US military and Air Force so that "nearly half the continent can be covered by a C-17 (military transport) without refueling."

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