FARC is the best instrument of US empire: Morales

Katharina Wecker
Colombia Reports
Aug. 27, 2009

The FARC are "the best instrument of the U.S. empire" as the fight against the guerrillas has become the pretext for U.S. military presence in Colombia, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Monday.

"The U.S. is using the fight against the FARC to justify their military presence in Colombia. I regret to say: they are the best instrument of the empire at the moment," Morales said at a press conference.

The Bolivian President reiterated his rejection of the military agreement between the U.S. and Colombia allowing the United States to use at least seven Colombian military bases. Morales announced he will defend his position at the next UNASUR meeting to be held in Bariloche, Argentina, on Friday.

Morales said the U.S. military presence in South America will lead to a "political presence" of the United States to "conspire" against other governments, as he believed happened with the coup in Honduras. According to the Bolivian leader, the U.S. Southern Command encouraged the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

But Morales is sure that at the UNASUR summit in Bariloche the South American leaders "will realize, behind closed doors, what will be the consequences of the U.S. military presence in South and Latin America. There will be a debate about the dignity and sovereignty of all countries of South America."

On Friday all members of UNASUR will meet to discuss the military agreement between the U.S. and Colombia. Despite several explanations about the accord by high U.S. officials and a South American tour by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, the plan continues to raise concerns in a large number of Latin American countries.