[progchat_action] Venezuela, Brazil mull forming 'LatAm NATO'
 
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:07:10 -0500 (CDT)


Venezuela, Brazil mull forming 'LatAm NATO'

AFP
March 27, 2008

Caracas: The leaders of Venezuela and Brazil are considering the idea of
creating a Latin American version of NATO, following Colombia's killing of a
rebel in Ecuador that rattled the continent this month.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heads to Brazil this week to discuss the
potential for creating an integrated defence council for the region, a
project envisioned by his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Chavez's trip, planned for Wednesday till Friday, also aims to shore up oil
cooperation and advance Venezuela's membership in the South American trade
bloc, Mercosur. The idea of creating a 'South American Security Council' was
proposed by Brasilia after a diplomatic crisis broke out earlier this month
following a raid by Colombian forces into Ecuador.

Experts say Lula's idea is to create a specific alliance within which
security and defence matters can be discussed between South American
nations, similar to the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

NATO was formed in 1949 with the commitment of North American and European
signatories to "safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries
by political and military means," the group says on its website. Bogota's
March 1 cross-border military operation on the rebel camp killed a
high-ranking guerrilla in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
and several other people, including one Ecuadorian man. The incident sparked
a diplomatic crisis that threatened to engulf much of Latin America and
temporarily led to a rupture in relations between Colombia and its
neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C27%5Cstory_27-3-20
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