Obama expands US military presence in Colombia

Officials have said it would increase U.S. access to seven Colombian bases for 10 years without boosting the number of service personnel and contractors beyond the cap of 1,400 specified by U.S. law. U.S. law specifies that no more than 800 U.S. military personnel and 600 civilian contractors may be in Colombia at any one time. Currently, there are some 230 U.S. service personnel and 400 contractors in the country.

Under the pact, U.S. military personnel will continue to enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution. Some Colombians had objected to exempting U.S. military personnel from local criminal jurisdiction.

Increased U.S. military aid to Colombia's armed forces since 2000 has been key to the recent weakening of the country's main leftist rebel group. The U.S. military has offices at armed forces headquarters and advisers attached to Colombia's main army divisions.

Although there's no evidence of any direct correlation, the boost in aid and cooperation also has coincided with a sharp increase in extrajudicial killings by Colombia's military.