by the El Reportero’s news services
Alvaro Uribe
The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) met in Quito on August 10. Its official agenda went all but unreported as it was hijacked by the debate over Colombian-U.S. military bases.
Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe had spent the previous week on a peripatetic tour of South America in an endeavor to, if not drum up support, win understanding for the accord with the U.S.
Unasur heads of state failed to reach a consensus over the thorny issue, which they agreed to discuss at a special summit in Argentina at a later date. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, meanwhile, once again ratcheted up the tension with Colombia, indulging his taste for sabre-rattling: “the winds of war have started to blow,” he said.
