CARTAGENA, Colombia -- The U.S. decision last year to lift a ban on weapons sales to Latin America has not fueled a regional arms buildup as originally feared, regional defense leaders say.
"As we predicted, this measure was not going to cause an arms race," Argentine Defense Minister Jorge Dominguez told reporters Wednesday after meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen at the conclusion of a three-day meeting of defense ministers from the Americas.In July 1997, President Clinton lifted the 20-year-old ban on U.S. sales of advanced weapons to Latin America, citing the region's move from military dictatorship to democracy.
Critics at the time said the move would spur a South American arms race, raising tensions in a region replete with border conflicts and diverting resources needed to fight some of the world's most wrenching poverty.
Those fears have proved unfounded, officials said.
Chile's defense minister, Jose Florencio Guzman, said economic recession in his country has forced it to shelve plans to purchase as many as two dozen F-16 fighter jets.
Argentina's Dominguez said his country had no plans to acquire sophisticated aircraft. He said, however, that discussions were "very advanced" with the United States on a purchase of Hummer vehicles and TOW anti-tank missiles for use by Argentine peacekeeping troops.
The peacekeepers will form part of a new United Nations rapid-reaction force that will also include soldiers from Denmark, Canada, Austria and other countries, Dominguez said.
Cohen, who was accused of trying to sell U.S. weapons during a 1997 visit to Latin America, said the United States would carefully evaluate requests by countries in the region on a case-by-case basis.
In separate comments to reporters, Cohen said the United States was not concerned that a possible trial of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet would reveal unflattering details of U.S. involvement in destabilizing the elected government of Salvador Allende, whom Pinochet ousted in a coup in 1973.
The 83-year old Pinochet is under house arrest in London while he is fighting extradition to Spain on genocide and terrorism charges.