Venezuela says it’s reevaluating ties with neighboring Colombia over a looming agreement to expand the US military presence on Colombian soil. The US and Colombia are close to a deal that would authorize US use of at least three military bases. The ten-year deal would also extend the current arrangement allowing up to 1,400 US troops and military contractors inside Colombia. On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized the plans.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: “Of course, they say they aren’t Yankee bases, but Colombian bases. But they come, and they can stay there permanently, something that will obligate us — and the foreign affairs minister already has instructions — to revise our relations with Colombia.”