U.S. and Colombian officials Friday signed a pact for U.S. military access to Colombian bases that has been vociferously denounced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other leftist Latin American presidents as a regional threat negotiated in secret.

The 10-year agreement for the use of at least seven Colombian military bases for operations against drug traffickers and leftist guerrillas was signed in Bogotá by U.S. Ambassador Bill Brownfield and the Colombian ministers of foreign affairs, defense and justice.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jaime Bermúdez said the full text of the pact would be made public and sent to all Latin American governments, underlining the tensions unleashed this summer when the Bogotá media published details of the negotiations for the deal.

U.S. and Colombian officials say the talks began in 2006, after Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa declared he would not allow the U.S. military to use the Manta airstrip on the Pacific as a base for counter-drug flights when that arrangement expired in 2009.

A base somewhere in Colombia immediately came up as a possible replacement, several U.S. government officials told El Nuevo Herald, though all said they could not remember whether the U.S. or Colombian side first raised the issue.

Formal negotiations began in mid-2008 for the use of the Palanquero air force base as a replacement for Manta. But the talks also took up the consolidation of a string of several previous arrangements for the movement of U.S. troops under the so-called Plan Colombia.

``We had a robust but ad hoc series of arrangements . . . that required a lot of maintenance,'' said a top Obama administration official who monitors Latin American affairs. ``We wanted to formalize the existing relationship.''

The only major new item on the agreement would be the Palanquero base, the official added, asking for anonymity to speak frankly on the controversial topic.

Colombia was happy to oblige, according to both sides.

With the Plan Colombia aid winding down, and Chávez in neighboring Venezuela buying sophisticated weaponry, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe wanted to keep his U.S. allies close.

``The talks start when Correa announces he wants Manta ended. At the same time, Colombia is looking for a new relationship with us because of the Venezuelan threat,'' said a Bush administration official who also asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject.

Several of the U.S. officials interviewed for this story said it was the Colombians who asked that the talks be kept secret -- not even the U.S. Congress was fully briefed -- and it was the Bogotá side that leaked it to the news media this summer, sparking an uproar around Latin America.

Chávez, who has long alleged the U.S military is planning to invade his country, immediately denounced the agreement, saying that ``the winds of war'' were blowing through the region. ``We didn't want to buy weapons, but what could we do do if the Yanquis are establishing seven military bases,'' he said in a speech Sept. 14.

``These are things that endanger the whole region,'' Ecuador's Correa declared. ``What if later we put nuclear warheads in Ecuador and declare them to be a matter of national security?''

Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Michelle Bachelet of Chile initially echoed the Chávez and Correa concerns but toned down their statements after Washington assured them the U.S. facilities would not be used as bases for operations against other countries.

The agreement for the U.S. ``cooperative security locations'' covers Palanquero and two other air bases, two naval bases, two army bases ``and other units that would be necessary,'' according to Colombian news media reports.

Colombia will retain full control of the bases and the current cap on the U.S. military presence there -- 800 soldiers and 600 contract workers -- will remain the same, according to the State Department. The U.S. facilities will not have any offensive capabilities, but may warehouse humanitarian supplies for disasters.

The pact must be submitted to the U.S. congress, but the Uribe government is arguing that it does not require special approval in Bogotá because it merely extends current agreements.