U.S. Troops Sign-in to Neighboring Colombia

Colombia and the United States have signed an agreement to allow the U.S. military to use seven of its bases over the next 10 years. Colombia shares borders with Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela.

Several Latin American countries are violently opposed to today’s agreement, particularly allies Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia, who see this as part of the Pentagon’s military expansion in the region.

Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez has warned that the “winds of war” are blowing across the continent.  Last month, Venezuela purchased $4 billion worth of military hardware from Russia, and is open to Russian warship training exercises off its coasts.  After carrying out joint maneuvers with Venezuela in December of last year, the Russian Admiral Chabanenko destroyer sailed through the Panama Canal for the first time since WWII in a symbolic projection of Russian power in the region, traditionally a U.S. sphere of influence.  Panama stated its neutrality at the time.

Yesterday, Ecuador signed a $22 million deal to receive two Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters.  Bolivia also recently signed a deal with Russia to purchase five civil defense helicopters.

“If someone needs to buy our military technologies or participate in joint military operations, or share our technology, that is not prohibited by the United States,” Leonid Colubev, Russian Ambassador to Bolivia, told the Real News.

Panama has been expected to sign an international cooperation agreement with the United States by today to build naval bases on its Pacific Coast to combat narcotrafficking and organized crime.

In somewhat related news, Colombia also declared an orange alert today in another potentially explosive situation.  The alert indicates the likely eruption of the Galeras volcano, near Colombia’s southwest border with Ecuador, within the next few days or weeks.