BOGOTA – U.S. troops will be allowed to use six Colombian military bases and other facilities necessary for joint operations, the Colombian magazine Cambio reported, citing the final text of an agreement reached between Washington and Bogota.

“Colombia will provide the United States access and use of three air combat command bases, two naval bases, the army’s center for instruction and training in Tolemaida (central Colombia) and other units that may be necessary for the development of joint operations,” the magazine, which had exclusive access to the document, reported.

The final text also states that a maximum of 800 U.S. soldiers will be given access to the Colombian bases, although it says the needs of the two sides will determine whether the number of military personnel and advisers is increased or reduced.

Likewise, “the conditions and norms governing the use of the bases” will be subject to joint decisions on the ground by Colombian and U.S. troops.

Cambio also reported that the Colombian government sent the text of the military agreement to the Council of State, a judicial body that reviews the constitutionality of executive decrees and decisions, and noted that the accord will have to go to Congress “because a law is needed to approve the presence of foreign troops on national territory.”

Since the start of negotiations on the basing deal, other countries in the region – particularly Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil – have raised concerns about its potential impact on the sovereignty and security of Colombia’s neighbors.

Seeking to defuse the controversy, Uribe attended an extraordinary meeting of the Union of South American Nations at the end of August in the Argentine city of Bariloche, where he explained the limits of the pact and listened to the concerns of his regional counterparts.

Cambio said that Uribe, “concerned about the reservations expressed by other leaders,” used legal arguments drawn from international law in justifying the need for Colombia and the United States to jointly combat drug trafficking and the “terrorism” perpetrated by the Andean nation’s leftist rebels.

The final text of the agreement, therefore, reads: “the two sides agree to deepen their cooperation in areas such as interoperability, logistics and equipment, training and intelligence-sharing, with the aim of tackling the common threats to peace, freedom and democracy.”

The document also states that U.S. authorities will investigate and prosecute any crimes that U.S. troops stationed in Colombia may commit.

Venezuela’s socialist leader, Hugo Chavez, has been the most outspoken opponent of the basing deal, saying it could spark a war in the region.

Colombia and the United States, however, maintain that other countries have nothing to fear and that the agreement will bolster the fight against drug trafficking and terrorist activity and is necessary after Ecuador this year ended a lease allowing U.S. access to a base in that country. EFE