"Ruling Against US Access to Bases Helps Ease Colombia's Isolation"

[ConsAreLiars]

From, and much more, at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52532

BOGOTA, Aug 18, 2010 (IPS) - When the Colombian government announced in November that it had reached a deal to give the U.S. armed forces access to seven military bases, the news provoked surprise and protests, like when an unfair clause is discovered in a contract that was blindly signed.

Except that in this case, the Colombian people were not even aware that any agreement had been signed.

The opposition invoked article 173 of the constitution, according to which Congress must authorise the presence of foreign troops in the country. But the government of former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) argued that it was a "simplified agreement" arising from the extension of a 1974 military treaty with the United States, and thus did not require congressional approval.

Opposition politician Carlos Gaviria, who is a former Constitutional Court magistrate, argued however that it could not be considered a "corollary" to a broader treaty, but was a treaty in its own right. Analyst Hernando Gómez Buendía said the agreement "does not form part of the U.S. programme of military aid to Colombia, but represents the start of Colombian military aid to the United States."

In the verdict handed down Tuesday, the Constitutional Court ruled that the deal is not a "simplified agreement" but a treaty that involves new obligations on the part of the Colombian state, as well as an extension of previous obligations, which means it has to be submitted to Congress for approval and reviewed afterwards by the Constitutional Court.

The Court thus struck down the agreement on the argument that it was unconstitutional. But the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, who took office Aug. 7, may put the accord before Congress.