A top US general Tuesday visited one of seven Colombian military bases US forces have access to under a 10-year agreement signed last month to fight drug trafficking and terrorism in this country.
US Southern Command chief, General Douglas Fraser, toured the Palanquero base in central Colombia, which the United States has targeted for 46 million dollars in structural upgrades, said a Colombian senior military officer.
Of strategic importance due to its central location, Palanquero is one of seven military bases covered in the October 30 agreement.
The bases include air bases Apiay, in the east, and Malambo, in the north on the Caribbean Sea; army bases Tres Esquinas, in the south; and Tolemaida, center; and navy bases Cartagena, on the Carribean, and Bahia Malaga, on the Pacific Ocean in the east.
The military agreement allows a maximum of 800 troops and 600 civilians from the United States to have access to the military bases for the next 10 years.
A clause in the agreement granting US troops diplomatic immunity while in Colombia has been harshly criticized by opposition groups and non-governmental organizations.
The military agreement also has raised tensions with neighboring Venezuela, where leftist President Hugo Chavez considers it a national and regional threat.
Both nations put their military on alert recently as Chavez' rhetoric rose to saber-rattling levels.
The agreement is part of "Plan Colombia," a joint US-Colombian effort to counter drug trafficking and militant groups in the region, which has received 5.5 billion dollars in US funding since 2000.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has insisted the military base deal is aimed at "fighting drug trafficking and terrorism" within Colombian borders.
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