Domestic Opposition Leads Chile to Postpone F-16 Purchase

 
The Council for a Livable World Education Fund's Conventional Arms Transfer Project (CAT) lauded Chile's decision to postpone its purchase of ten F-16 fighter jets from the United States. CAT attributed the delay to domestic pressure from Chilean medical, political and religious groups, and called on the Bush administration to reconsider whether arms sales "are the best way to achieve US foreign policy goals in Latin America that focus on strengthening democracy, improving access to education, and maintaining regional stability."

Domestic opposition groups argued that Chile should not modernize its armed forces at the expense of health, education and economic development, pointing out that Chile spends more on defense and less on public health than any other country in Latin America. CAT praised the Chilean government's "good judgment" and chided the US to "consider the negative security, economic and social implications of multimillion dollar arms deals."

See Arms Trader Insider #45, Council for a Livable World Education Fund, Conventional Arms Transfer Project, www.clw.org/cat.