US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to reassure Latin America on Tuesday that a pending agreement to give US forces greater access to Colombian military facilities will not create permanent US bases. The planned expanded US military presence in Colombia has worried both US-friendly nations in the region and members of US President Barack Obama’s own political party.
Clinton said the agreement, which the countries hope to sign in the “near future,” provides the US with access to Colombian bases to cooperate in fighting terrorists and drug dealers.
“These threats are real, and the United States is committed to supporting the government of Colombia in its efforts to provide security to all its citizens,” Clinton said, speaking to reporters with Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez after meetings at the State Department.
But, she said, “The United States does not have and does not seek bases inside Colombia.”
Command and control of the bases and security are Colombia’s responsibility, she said.
Bermudez, speaking through an interpreter, said Colombia wants to strengthen cooperation with the US in fighting drug trafficking and terror.
“What Colombia needs is more effective mechanisms of cooperation,” he said. “We have suffered, and we have learned from the lessons as a result of this suffering.”
He said cooperation with the US will benefit the region as well as Colombia.
The Colombians have said the 10-year lease agreement would not boost the presence of US troops and civilian military contractors above the 1,400 currently permitted by US law.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called the plan a serious threat to the region. Asked about Chavez’s comments about the agreement, Clinton urged more countries to “help us in this fight.”
“Don’t just stand on the sidelines, and certainly don’t contribute to the problems by doing and saying things that undermine the efforts that our governments are taking to try to protect the entire region from the scourge of narco-traffickers,” Clinton said.
In Caracas, Chavez responded that the US could use Colombian military installations as launching pads for future operations to unseat Latin American leaders such as himself. He scoffed at US claims that the pending agreement with Colombia was aimed only at fighting drug trafficking and terrorism.
“They are thinking about the domination of South America,” Chavez said. “It’s part of the imperialist strategy. Colombia is offering itself so the United States can establish a system and it threatens all of us.”
He said US officials have used drug-related accusations to oust Latin American leaders in the past, citing the overthrow in 1989 of Panama’s General Manuel Noriega.
Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder. China’s tech companies and vehicle manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology over the past few years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the US. Now the central city of Wuhan boasts one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, home to a fleet of more than 500 taxis that can be hailed on an app just like regular rides. At one intersection in an industrial area of Wuhan, AFP reporters saw at least five
China and Vietnam yesterday inked 14 documents spanning cross-border railways to crocodile exports after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met with new Vietnamese leader To Lam in Beijing. The Vietnamese president’s visit to Beijing, his first overseas trip since becoming the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month, signals a desire between the two communist neighbors to strengthen ties, amid growing trade and investment, despite occasional clashes over boundaries in the South China Sea. “China has always regarded Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and supports Vietnam in adhering to the party leadership, taking the socialist
A former Saudi Arabian official alleged in a report that the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s years-long, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published yesterday by the BBC, but the kingdom has described him as “a discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi Arabian intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been a years-long dispute with the kingdom as
‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges were assisting with emergency cases as more than 1 million doctors were expected to strike Hospitals and clinics across India yesterday turned away patients except for emergency cases as medical professionals began a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata. More than 1 million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralyzing medical services across the world’s most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases. The strike, which began at 6am, cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations, the Indian Medical Association said in a statement. The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied