Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

The United States’ troubles in Latin America took a new turn this week as Colombia, fresh from electing a new President, brought a defence agreement between Bogota and Washington to a grinding halt.

The crisis for American military interests in the region was precipitated on Tuesday when Colombia’s Constitutional Court suspended an agreement that provided U.S. troops with greater access to Colombian bases. The Court said it was suspending such access on the grounds that the agreement had not yet won Congressional approval.

The agreement, aimed at boosting anti-drug and counter-insurgency operations, was signed last October and permitted U.S. forces to use seven bases within Colombian territory.

According to reports, the Constitutional Court said that it, “resolves to refer to the President the supplementary agreement for cooperation and technical assistance in defence and security between the governments of Colombia and the U.S..” As per this judgement, the agreement would now go back to the desk of the new President, Juan Manuel Santos, whose government has said it would abide by the court’s decision and study the ruling further.

While the government of President Santos enjoys a strong majority in the country’s legislature and may not have trouble passing the agreement, it is unclear whether this will happen. In its decree, the Constitutional Court however clarified that it had not ruled on the legality of the agreement, rather it had commented on the process by which the pact had been approved.

The defence agreement had sailed through relatively smoothly under former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who did not deem Congressional approval necessary for it to be implemented. Numerous groups, including neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela, subsequently criticised the accord for granting the U.S. military immunity from criminal prosecution within Colombian jurisdiction.

While Mr. Uribe was one of the U.S.’ staunchest allies in a continent increasingly hostile to American regional dominance, Mr. Santos, is less so, according to observers. After being sworn in earlier this month Mr. Santos was quick to mend fences with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who had severed ties with Colombia in July after a border dispute.

Labels: Juan Manuel Santos, U.S. Colombia defence agreement, U.S. Colombia ties