Colombian Defense Secretary Gabriel Silva said in this capital on Tuesday that his country and The United States would sign this week a military agreement that has been criticized by many countries, because it represents a threat to the region.

However, he considered that the agreement does not have any geopolitical implication, an opinion that the governments of countries, as Venezuela and Ecuador, have criticized harshly, because they said the pact aims at them.

By means of this agreement, Bogota will give seven military bases to The Pentagon for ten years, will allow American troops operating in Colombian territory and will give them immunity.

The case gave birth to a recent special summit of The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Argentina to discuss the text.

As part of his visit to Colombia, Silva had an interview with his US peer Robert Gates and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Director Michelle Leonhart.

He will visit The US Special Operations Command and the Southern Command in Florida on Tuesday.

The US Congress passed last week the defense budget plan, which allocates $46 million to the Colombian strategic military base in Palanquero, 112 miles West from Bogota.

Simultaneously, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez asserted that the government could bring the military pact to fruition without presenting it to the legislature.