In a private, low-key ceremony, the U.S. ambassador and three Colombian ministers today signed a pact to expand Washington"s military"s presence, a deal that Venezuela"s Hugo Chavez has called a threat to the region"s security, according to AP. U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield signed along with Colombia"s foreign, justice and defense ministers at the Foreign Ministry in Bogota, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Ana Duque. Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said that the pact restricts U.S. military operations to Colombian territory _ alluding to fears expressed by leftist leaders in the region that the deal would make Colombia a base for asserting U.S. power in South America. Although details were not immediately released, a government communique said the pact «respects the principles of equal sovereignty, territorial integrity and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other states.» Officials have said it would increase U.S. access to seven Colombian bases for 10 years without boosting the number of service personnel and contractors beyond the cap of 1,400 specified by U.S. law. U.S. counter-drug flights that previously operated out of Manta, Ecuador, would be based at the Palanquero base in the central Magdalena valley and Navy port calls would be more frequent. «We are not bringing U.S. soldiers to Colombia for combat,» Bermudez told reporters. «We"re not going to see an unusual number of U.S. military personnel, nor U.S. planes in excess. What we"re going to see is what we"ve always seen.» The top U.S. Defense Department official for Latin America, Frank Mora, told The Associated Press in August there would be no «U.S. offensive capacity» such as fighter jets from any of the bases. However, U.S. construction is planned at Palanquero to expand facilities.
