BOGOTA – The Colombian government received a high court’s opinion on a basing agreement negotiated between Bogota and Washington, while both the administration and that tribunal expressed displeasure that portions of that document were published beforehand by a news magazine.

In a statement, the Colombian presidency confirmed Thursday having received from the acting president of the Council of State, Nohemi Hernandez, the court’s opinion on the agreement to give U.S. troops access to Colombian military bases.

The deal, which complements a bilateral military accord in effect since 1974, will allow U.S. soldiers and advisers to initially access and make use of six Colombian bases, as well as others that may be necessary for joint operations against drug trafficking and terrorist activity.

The government’s statement said that “a commission made up of the Interior and Justice, Foreign Relations and Defense Ministries and the legal secretariat of the presidency of the republic was immediately formed” to analyze the opinion offered by the Council of State – a judicial body that scrutinizes acts and decrees issued by the executive branch.

Hernandez told Colombia’s RCN radio Thursday that the information sent to the government was absolutely confidential because it involved issues of national security and expressed her displeasure at Cambio’s decision to publish it.

Colombian newspaper El Colombiano, meanwhile, on Friday quoted Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia as saying “it is very serious that reports about the Council of State’s opinion (are being published). This opinion is confidential (as it involves issues) of national security.”

In its report, the magazine said a chamber of that high court issued an opinion – which still must be studied by the full tribunal – asserting that the accord should be studied by Congress “because a law is needed to approve the presence of foreign troops on national territory.”

The magazine noted that if the accord is sent to Congress for its approval that could lead to delays in its implementation.

Because the court’s recommendations are non-binding, however, the executive branch will have the final say on that and other matters.

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, Colombian President Alvaro 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.

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 “terrorism” perpetrated by the Andean nation’s leftist rebels and is necessary after Ecuador this year ended a lease allowing U.S. access to a base in that country.

Uribe, who first took office in 2002, has received billions in U.S. aid for counterinsurgency operations. EFE