Unasur Summit in Quito
On Friday, November 27, defense and foreign ministers from the Union of South American Nations' Unasur member nations gathered in Quito, Ecuador to address growing regional tensions. Topics on the table included continuing concerns about the Colombia-U.S. military accord, which grants the United States access to seven Colombian military bases, growing tensions between Chile and Peru after Peru accused Chile of espionage, and deteriorating relations between Colombia and Venezuela. One member nation was conspicuously absent from the meeting. Neither Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva nor Foreign Relations Minister Jaime Bermúdez were in attendance, having cancelled at the last minute. In their place, Bermúdez sent a letter explaining that the agreement with the U.S. contains the principle of "non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States." While Colombian Defense Minister Silva told Radio Caracol the same day that "the number one obligation of a defense minister is to avoid war at all costs; the second obligation is if some makes war against us, Colombia must face it and win, but we are in the first stage. ... [F]or the first time in decades, the defense ministry must study how to prepare to face a foreign threat." In response, Venezuelan Minister Maduro described Silva as a "crazy and irresponsible renegade, warmonger, who has begun to fire at Venezuela from Bogotá." and called Colombia's absence "inexcusable, a huge mistake and an act of contempt towards Unasur." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also sent a letter to the members of Unasur, in an effort to assuage fears that the base agreement jeopardizes the sovereignty of countries in the region. The letter made it "absolutely clear" that the military deal between Bogotá and Washington would be carried out "with total respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other countries." Secretary Clinton's letter appeared to settle the fears of some member nations. The Brazilian minister, Celso Amorín, left the meeting at midday "optimistic. ... Above all there were advances on the issue that worried us the most, which was the formal guarantees," he said. While Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconí also expressed his satisfaction: "One of the best results of today's meeting has been to receive a text that plainly guarantees no extraterritorial intervention through this type of agreement." Venezuelan Foreign Minister Maduro, however, was less satisfied, and underlined the need to turn "these written guarantees into realities, so that they do not become a joke, as happened in Honduras." Maduro said that the agreements resulting from the summit were indeed "a step forward, but still not sufficient." Essentially no progress was made towards easing tensions between Colombia and Venezuela, or between Chile and Peru, though issues such as national sovereignty and nuclear power were discussed. Countries agreed to prohibit "the use or the threat of force, as well as any other type of military aggression or threats to the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the other member states," according to the final document of the summit, which Ecuadoran officials are still finalizing. The Unasur members also agreed on the need to create a communications network, an "information bank," that would increase the transparency of weapons transfers; however the final declaration stipulates that "Such a mechanism, at the request of [any state], will respect the principle of confidentiality."