BOGOTA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Colombia said Thursday that it's still in talks with Washington on joint use of military bases in Colombia, denying a pact on building U.S. bases in its territory near borders with neighboring states.
The Colombian foreign ministry made the statement after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claimed the installation of U.S. military bases in Colombia as "an unfriendly act."
An official from the ministry told Xinhua via telephone that Bogota is still in the process of negotiation with the United States on a bilateral cooperation agreement which, if signed, will allow the U.S. forces to use Colombia's military facilities.
No new military bases are to be constructed in Colombia, but collaborative use of the existing ones is possible, said the anonymous source.
To the moment the exact number of bases for cooperation remains unclear, the source said, adding that Colombia intends to intensify cooperation with the U.S. in anti-drug operations.
Colombia's neighboring countries Venezuela and Ecuador have reacted strongly to the possibility of any U.S. military base being located in the Colombian territory.
Chavez warned Thursday that, if Colombia lease its border facilities to the U.S. military, "it will be a threat to the region's peace."
The Colombian foreign ministry rejected Chavez's criticism, saying the bases for cooperation with the U.S. are nowhere close to frontier with any neighboring state.
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