Uruguay resumes debate on defense cooperation project with the U.S.

A draft defense cooperation agreement between the U.S. and Uruguay, which could allow the installation of U.S. bases on Uruguayan territory, according to experts, is once again being analyzed in the Uruguayan Parliament. Its ambiguous content seems to predict a long discussion and controversy.

Analyst Julian González Guyer, a doctor in Political Science, specialized in international security, defense and military civil relations, warned, in a dialogue with Sputnik, that this project raises the possibility of the construction of U.S. bases in Uruguay, which would mean a “damage to the sovereignty of the country.”

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But the senator for the ruling National Party (center-right) Gustavo Penadés denied it, in a conversation with this medium, and said that the project involves only “some type of investment in construction” but not the permanent presence of U.S. forces in Uruguayan territory.

Meanwhile, the president of the Defense Commission of the opposition Broad Front (centre-left), León Lev, admitted in a dialogue with Sputnik that the project is “ambiguous” on that point, for which he foresees a “profound discussion” in Parliament.

The text of the Agreement for the acquisition of supplies and the reciprocal provision of services between the Ministry of National Defense of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and the Department of Defense of the United States of America is in the Committee on International Affairs of the Senate.

Sputnik requested comments from the Uruguayan Ministry of Defense to know the contents of the draft agreement, but from the portfolio it was stated that no statements would be given and that the minister, Javier García, will make the pertinent explanations only when he has to report to Parliament .

The project is defined as “a complementary agreement” for “reciprocal provision” of “logistical support, supplies and services.” The letter indicates that Uruguay and the U.S. express their “desire to improve the interoperability, preparation and efficiency of their respective military forces through greater logistical cooperation.”

It is argued that the purpose of the agreement is to “facilitate logistical support” between the two countries during “combined exercises, training, displacements, stopovers, operations or other cooperative activities.”

Its second article enshrines an agreement for the “provision of food, water, lodging, transportation (including air transportation), petroleum, oils, lubricants, clothing, communication services, medical services, ammunition, support for base operations (and the construction corresponding to that support), storage services, use of facilities, training services, spare parts and elements, repair and maintenance services, calibration services and port services.”

SOVEREIGNTY THREATENED

González Guyer, a professor at the University of the Republic and a researcher, warned that although the project is a bilateral agreement, it is “very clear” that in fact it will enable U.S. actions more than anything else.

“When one reads the project, one has to realize that although it is a bilateral agreement, that is to say that things are valid for both Uruguay and the United States —for example, in terms of the supply of services that can be provided to each other—, it is very clear that these are things that Uruguay is going to allow the U.S. to do, because the Latin American country does not have the capacity to do things in the U.S. In addition, the initiative is from the U.S. and it is drafted in the terms that it proposed. The most striking of all it is the reference to the bases and eventually the construction of bases for the purpose of providing services,” he said.

The expert recalled that the project was initially discussed in 2012, during the administration of the then Minister of Defense, Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro, under the Government of José Pepe Mujica (2010-2015), but that at the time it did not have the support of Parliament.

“The project was shelved,” said González Guyer, mentioning the coincidence that it was resumed a few weeks after the XV Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, held in August in Brasilia.

“The agreement enables the possibility for the U.S. to build a base or help in the construction of a base that is used by the U.S. The text, as it stands, is too vague to be approved by the Parliament in which Uruguay is committed with another country,” he said.

The expert warned that, “if the Parliament authorizes it, which is the body that has the task of approving the international agreements of Uruguay, it implies a loss of sovereignty over a part of the territory.”

STANDARD AGREEMENT

For his part, Senator Penadés assured that “there is no” possibility of the installation of U.S. bases in Uruguay, and considered that this interpretation is “barbarous” (nonsense).

The legislator pointed out that it is a “standard agreement” like the ones that have been signed on defense cooperation with the U.S. and other countries.

“I want to remember that it was signed in 2012, during the government of [José] Mujica; it was not ratified but the [current] government of [Luis] Lacalle Pou understood that it is necessary for the bill to be ratified by parliament. It is a bill that does not add no relevant data regarding military cooperation between Uruguay and the United States,” he assured.

The senator said that the cooperation between the U.S. and Uruguay is “important”, since “donations of material of all kinds have been achieved throughout history and there has been cooperation in the field of instruction that seeks better training of our troops.”

“What the project does is establish things that were actually done in the past. In the past, the U.S. helped build an important polyclinic in the Santa Catalina area [in Montevideo] during the Broad Front government,” he said.

When asked what the project refers to when it refers to “operations in bases [and the construction corresponding to that support],” he maintained that it refers to “infrastructure” that is built in “matter of cooperation.” He gave as an example the construction of a “salon, premises, hospital.”

“That leaves infrastructure to Uruguay because they are investments that serve our Armed Forces. That does not mean that this implies any type of loss of sovereignty, but it is a cooperation that is relevant to maintain because it allows us to get closer in technology. For example, the U.S. donated night vision goggles to the Armed Forces so that the helicopters could drive at night,” he argued.

‘AMBIGUOUS’

For his part, Lev affirmed that the project is “ambiguous” so it will generate a “very deep discussion” in Parliament.

“As it is ambiguous, it is going to give rise to at least a very deep discussion, I have no doubt. This is not going to be voted on tables and this discussion is going to take many months, if not years. But one can never anticipate. There are two main laws for the Government, such as the organic law of the Armed Forces and the retirement law. Parliament is not in a position to quickly study this project,” he said.

He pointed out that, in general, agreements with foreign countries take months or years to approve.

“An issue of this nature, with the ambiguities, especially with this potential base, is going to generate a deep debate. The Uruguayan government does not propose the agreement, it makes a scheme with the U.S. and proposes what Washington aspires to. It is not that the Government proposes, is what the U.S. propose. But in politics one should never rush. One has to carefully analyze and see the actions of the political system,” he added.

With information from Sputnik (Lucía Barrios)