Venezuela Urges Colombia To
Close U.S. Military Bases
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
on Friday urged Colombian President-elect
Juan Manuel Santos to close U.S. military
bases in the country to show a change of
attitude toward the neighboring countries.
At the closing session of the 10th Summit of
the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas
(ALBA) in Otavalo, Ecuador, Chavez also
asked Santos to recognize the raid by the
Colombian Army in Ecuadorian territory was a
"rude mistake."
Relations between Colombia and Ecuador have
been strained since 2008 when Colombian
forces launched a cross-border raid against
a camp of the rebel Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Ecuadorian
territory.
"We are evaluating to see whether the new
Colombian government comes to retake the
path of respecting South America," Chavez
said. "We are going to see what will happen
with the Yankee bases in Colombia."
The "Otavalo Declaration" issued at the end
of the two-day ALBA summit called on member
states to further consolidate a trade
agreement among them and seek inclusion
mechanisms for natives and Afro-descendants
to apply intercultural and multi-nationality
principles.
Venezuelan President Chavez, Bolivian
President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian
President Rafael Correa and representatives
of Cuba, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda,
Dominica, and Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines attended the closing ceremony. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
