REGION: UNASUR SUMMIT ACCOMPLISHES LITTLE.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
| Cargo | Union de Naciones Suramericanas |
By Andres Gaudin
When Colombian President Alvaro Uribe traveled to Argentina to participate in a Union de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR) summit where Colombia's agreement to allow the US to use seven military bases (air, sea, and land) would be discussed, he was well-aware that he would be playing the role of villain and receiving the blows of his 11 homologues (see NotiSur, 2009-08-21). What he did not imagine, or at least what was not written in analyses prior to the meeting, was that not only would he succeed in neutralizing the inevitable declaration condemning the bases but that he would take home a triple prize: aborting the proposals of Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Evo Morales of Bolivia; keeping in check Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's desires for leadership; and, especially, getting this regional body that he still grumbles about to produce a document condemning the actions of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN). At least that is the assessment of many political commentators and analysts in the mainstream media.
It is clear, however, that, during the seven-hour meeting on Aug. 28 in the winter tourist resort of Bariloche, against a background of frozen lakes and snowcapped Andean peaks, Uribe had to listen to criticisms from the other leaders, more annoying perhaps than the effects of the H1N1 flu virus, which his doctors diagnosed after he returned ill to Colombia. Nevertheless, he might have thought, "Paris is well worth a mass," as Henry IV did in 1593 when he renounced Calvinism and converted to Roman Catholicism, a condition imposed by the Church of Rome for obtaining the French crown.
US use of Colombian bases condemned by all
The summit host, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, opened the meeting. "We reject those bases," she said. "Living in a climate like this is unacceptable. We have to set mechanisms allowing us to work through differences to safeguard a body as valuable as UNASUR."
Chavez produced a document attributed to the Pentagon's Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and said that the Colombian bases would be an instrument of US military strategy to threaten neighboring countries, not to help Colombia fight drug trafficking.
Correa picked up on Chavez's reference to the SOUTHCOM White Paper Air Mobility Command Global En Route Strategy and expressed his indignation that "the US continues treating us...
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