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Venezuela: Colombia-NATO link may pose as risk to LatAm peace

Xinhua, December 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Venezuela on Monday warned that a possible accord between Colombia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could pose as a risk to peace in Latin America.

"The Venezuelan government firmly opposes the attempt to introduce external factors with nuclear capability in our region," the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

NATO's "past and recent actions revindicate a policy of war (and) violate bilateral and regional agreements of which Colombia is a part, (and) through which Latin America and the Caribbean have been declared a Zone of Peace," the government said.

As a member of key regional blocs, including the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Colombia has to follow those agreements.

The warning comes after Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Friday that NATO had agreed to preliminary talks with his government over a cooperation accord that would eventually lead to full membership.

The move additionally "undermines the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement, which expressly prohibits member states from forming part of military alliances," Venezuela said. Enditem