Set to talk: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
Uribe to meet with Lula over military bases
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is set to fly to Brazil this week to explain his decision to open three military bases to the US, an aide to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
The visit follows demands from Brazil and other South American nations for the US to justify the agreement with Colombia.
Several capitals in the region fear it could ignite long-simmering tensions, especially between Colombia and Venezuela, an AFP report said.
The trip would give Uribe and Lula a chance to talk over several issues, since Uribe is not attending a meeting of the Union of South American Nations in Ecuador next week, the official said.
Colombia said last month three of its bases would be used and expanded by the US military as part of Washington's fight against drugs trafficking.
That announcement unnerved Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who said he feared the bases could be used for a "Yankee military force" to invade his country.
Venezuela's ties with neighboring Colombia have again entered rocky territory following Bogota's accusations that Chavez supplied Colombian rebels with arms.
Chavez has withdrawn his ambassador to Bogota over the claims.
Ecuador, an ally of Venezuela's, is also wary of the bases announcement.
It cut off relations with Bogota after Colombia's military staged a cross-border raid into its territory in March last year to destroy a rebel camp.
Both Venezuela and Ecuador nearly went to war with Colombia over the incursion.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told Sunday's edition of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that the US bases in Colombia were of concern.
"What worries Brazil is a strong military presence whose aim and capability seems to go well beyond what might be needed inside Colombia," he said.
He said Brasilia was asking for explanations from Washington.
Lula last week said "I'm not happy with the idea of another US base in Colombia."
Chile and Spain have also expressed unease.