MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

President Uribe warns an “arms race” could be “hugely damaging” for Latam

Colombian president Uribe was reacting to news that Russia could sell 5 billion USD of arms to Venezuela

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe spoke out against the danger of entering into an “arms race” that could be “hugely damaging,” following news that Russia may sell 5 billion US dollars of weapons to Venezuela, reports the Colombian press.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the coastal city of Cartagena, President Uribe said Colombia “will not participate in the arms race,” explaining that “although we believe countries must fulfil their duty in combating terrorism, we also believe that the arms race is extremely damaging.”

“We want to be friends with all countries, but we need all governments to comply with the human need to confront violence and combat it,” announced Uribe.

Uribe said that the need to combat violence and terrorism in Colombia is his top concern as leader.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, Arturo Valenzula, also addressed the issue of “aggression” in the region in a meeting with Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva, stressing the need to “ensure that this is a continent at peace, where one cannot tolerate the aggression of one country to another.”

Valenzula expressed the US concerns about security across the Americas.

“We are very concerned about the issue of organized crime, we are concerned about the issue of drug trafficking, which remains a scourge in many of our countries, and certainly we are concerned about potential threats that could compromise the security of one country against another country.”

Uribe and Valenzuela’s comments follow news that Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, had raised concerns about Venezuela's potential purchase of 5 billion USD worth of arms from Russia.