MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Neighbors restless with Bolivia/Venezuela defense treaty

Venezuelan troops could be called in to help if Bolivia is faced with an internal conflict, according to Peruvian officials' reading of the recent Venezuela/Bolivia defense treaty singed by presidents Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.

During a summons before the Peruvian Senate Defense Committee, Peru's Foreign Affairs minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said one of the articles of the controversial treaty contemplates such a situation since: "both sides sponsor the mutual participation of Armed Forces officers in timely national events".

Garcia Belaunde was also asked if the treaty "means Chavez is looking to keeping its influence over Bolivia to ensure Venezuela's interest in the country's large natural gas reserves in Tarija?, to which he replied "evidently; currently PDVSA (Venezuela's government owned petroleum company) has an operational station and has Bolivia's gas under its control. This could also be a reason for the signing of the defense agreement".

Peru's concern is not isolated, "Chile, Brazil, Paraguay are also worried since the situation could generate a serious misbalance in the region", added Garcia Belaunde.

The Peruvian official said he put the question forward to Bolivia's vice president Garcia Linera who replied his country's Armed Forces "are small, ill equipped, short of resources and the only thing the treaty pretends is the modernization and upgrading of the forces in line with the country's needs and security".

Garcia Linera added it was "fundamentally a cooperation agreement with no purpose or intention of altering any statu quo".

However the Peruvian official said the treaty was "too ample and with different readings and interpretations".

If new garrisons are mounted along the Peruvian border, "this would be interpreted as an expression of mistrust", so that is why Peru is requesting to know if existent bases are to be reinforced or new ones added, insisted Garcia Belaunde.

"It's not clear whether 12 or 20 outposts along the Peruvian border are to be reinforced; we do know a port is to be built in the border with Paraguay and a military base in the border with Brazil".

Garcia Belaunde said it has been a long established practice that "our countries have defense and security policies ?but when a country modifies the strategy, the appropriation of resources, it becomes a motive of concern".

The second half of the Peruvian Defense Committee summons was behind doors following on the request from several of its members.

The Venezuela/Bolivia agreement has yet to be passed by the Bolivian Congress. The Senate recently returned the document to the Lower House Defense and Security Committee.

Another controversial article, which is of great concern to Bolivia's five neighbors is the fact the treaty contemplates expanding military air, land and fluvial procurement as well as new communications systems.