Colombia/USA military base court ruling: A good analysis at Just the Facts

This article from Just the Facts is a recommended analysis of yesterday's Colombian Constitutional court's decision to call the US/Colombia military base agreement unconstitutional. Here's one paragraph of many excerpted as a taster:

"Politically, the court’s decision is a blow to both governments because it gives the impression – deserved or no – that the Obama and Uribe administrations sought to do something that violated Colombia’s Constitution. Operationally, however, the defense accord’s suspension will not affect the U.S. presence in Colombia. Not a single U.S. soldier or contractor will have to leave Colombia or alter what he is doing as a result of the Constitutional Court’s decision."

Click through for the rest, as there's plenty more insight.

Colombia/USA military base agreement declared unconstitutional

Well riddle me ree, it's turned out just the way we posted back last Wednesday August 11th (remember where you heard it first dudettes and dudes). Here's AFP with the spiel:

US-Colombia base deal unconstitutional: court

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

BOGOTA — Colombia's constitutional court declared a US-Colombian accord that gave the US military access to at least seven Colombian bases to be unconstitutional.

The court ordered the government to submit the agreement to the Colombian Congress, arguing that it should be executed in the form of an international treaty that would be subject to congressional approval in order to comply with constitutional norms. CONTINUES HERE

And just a couple of minutes ago the Colombian government issued a statement saying it would abide by the court's ruling. So today gives your humble scribe a chance to repeat that little picture and caption from the follow-up post of last Thursday....cos it makes me chortle in that cynicalchortle way:

Now is it just me, or perhaps it's just lucky typesetting, but do you think all them there boats, planes and armed soldiers are pointing in the same direction out of sheer coincidence too?

More on the unravelling of the US-Colombia military base deal

Further to our post yesterday, Bina has translated today's developments out of Colombia's Constitutional Court.

La W Radio reports that the Constitutional Court of Colombia will declare the military-cooperation accord between Colombia and the US inexecutable, since it must first be passed by the Congress before being approved.

The court declared the measure inconstitutional, but left it alive for a limited time. It gave the Colombian congress one year to decide whether or not to approve the accord continues here

As a slight aside, here's a map presented by AFP newswire that shows the positions and uses of the seven bases that the US wants to set up in Colombia.


Now is it just me, or perhaps it's just lucky typesetting, but do you think all them there boats, planes and armed soldiers are pointing in the same direction out of sheer coincidence too?

Yankees go home

click to enlarge (cool hi-res photo that gets big)

Today, anticipating the closure of its Eloy Alfaro 'Manta' military in Ecuador by about six weeks (official handback date is November) the last US Air Force personnel left the base.

Enjoy Colombia, boys.

There is a secret US military base in Peru.....

The secret document as published by La Primera today

.....which only comes as a surprise to those silly enough to believe what the liars that inhabit the Twobreakfasts government say. Peru newspaper La Primera has today got its hands on a secret memo (not secret any more though) that outlines the US military prescence in the VRAE coca growing region of Peru. Even this humble corner of cyberspace knows as much, though. In this post back in February I wrote...

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In fact, there might not be a formal US air base in Peru the same as the one in Ecuador, but anyone who hangs in the right places in lowland Peru more than a week knows the VRAE airbase, supposedly Peru soldiers only, is constantly packed full of US soldiers, planes, copters and air crew.

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...which, funnily enough, is the exact scenario laid out by La Primera in its report today. Here's a section translated by yours truly:

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• "....The government categorically denied the possibility of the installation of a US military base in our country. However, La Primera has gained access to an official document stating the Ministry of Defence coordinated with the ex-commander general of the armed forces, Edwin Donayre, the request of the United States of America to construct an Operations and Intelligence Command Centre at the Pichari military base in the Valle de los Rios Apurimac y Ene (VRAE).

• Via notice 058 VPD/A/SEC dated March 10th 2008, the Vice-minister of Defence Policy, Nuria Esparch Fernández, told Donayre that the administration of the sector coordinated with the Southern Command, via the the Constulting and Military Assistance Group of the United States, the construction plans for "A centre of medical assistance and a command centre for operations and intelligence in the territory where the armed forces are stationed in Pichari."."

Oh how they insulted Evo Morales when he had the balls to accuse Peru of running a secret US base. Let's see what they throw at each other this time, as apologies from Twobreakfasts are as unlikely as a hunger strike.