DUTCH OK U.S. USE OF CARIBBEAN BASES TO FIGHT DRUGS

The Hague, Netherlands -- The Dutch parliament endorsed a treaty Tuesday
allowing U.S. aircraft to use Dutch bases in the Caribbean as staging areas
in the fight against drug trafficking.

The measure was approved despite some objections that the treaty could draw
the Netherlands too deeply into U.S. military operations.

As the treaty was debated, dozens of activists from political youth
organizations demonstrated against the motion, and some poured a red liquid
on the carpet at the entrance to the parliament building. Police detained
14 people.

The treaty allows U.S. aircraft to use facilities on Aruba and Curacao
while making surveillance flights in Latin America. The two islands are
autonomous areas within the Dutch kingdom, whose foreign affairs are
controlled from the Netherlands.

The staging centers have been denounced by nearby Venezuela, which says
they fall within its security zone.