Colombians protest US presence

Colombia : Social and political organizations in Colombia called the people to gather on Tuesday to protest US military presence and defend national sovereignty.

According to the call on Monday, the decision by President Alvaro Uribe to allow the presence of US Army troops in several spots of the Colombian territory, in line with a military pact negotiated with Washington, rides roughshod over Colombia's independence and sovereignty.

Similarly, a call for debate was made by members of the Polo Democratico Alternativo Party at a plenary of the Senate of the Republic, presided over by Senator Gloria Ines Ramirez.

The wave of protest has been joined by members of the executive direction of the Unitary Workers Union (CUT), which demanded that the government respects national sovereignty by closing US bases in Colombian territory.

The CUT said Uribe's decision is against the so-far persued peace paths, thus contributing to worsen internal conflict and trigger external frictions.

These bases granted gracefully by the Uribe regimen to the United States, behind the nation and Congress' backs, add to the more than 700 such bases the United States has around the world, the workers central said in a communique.

Basing foreign troops in Colombia is banned under the Constitution, which only allows transit on prior authorization by Congress and the State Council, the text recalled.

Colombian Communist Party General Secretary Jaime Caicedo said the United States has become a fundamental factor in the continuity of war in the country and regional destabilization.

Bogota, Prensa Latina