MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru and Chile agree to resume confidence building in military affairs

Peruvian defence minister Rafael Rey

Peruvian defence minister Rafael Rey recently paid his Chilean counterpart Jaime Ravinet and Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera a visit, a meeting which showed that although the two countries continue to squabble over maritime border issues, bilateral relations are still intact.

The two countries have re-opened the possibility of the 2+2 armament agreement. The agreement was originally the work of the Ricardo Lagos government (2000 to 2006) and aimed to build mutual trust in regards to arms purchases made by both countries.

This would be achieved through regular checks and full transparency on weapons and defence spending. However, the agreement was abandoned after a request that Chile reduce its weapons spending by 20%.

A delegation from the Chilean Ministry of Defence will travel to Peru in July to hear Peru’s proposals regarding the agreement and to analyse the best options to pursue.

Following Friday’s meeting, Ravinet told El Mercurio that “the idea is that both countries commit to a transparent mechanism which allows the calculation of defence expenses in a meticulous way”.

The two countries also announced that they will begin to work together in areas vital to the regional “community,” as well as to advance together in peace missions. Delegations from both nations will get together in November to discuss a combined effort in Haiti.

Chile and Peru also have plans to create a number of joint workshops between their military academies (Centro de Altos Estudios Nacionales), the Peruvian Centre of Higher National Studies) and (Academia Nacional de Estudios Politicos y Estrategios) the Chilean National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies.

In regards to Peru’s accusations about the growing amount of Chile’s arms stockpile, and the possible connection that these may have with Peru’s proposition to reopen the 2+2 agreement, Rey said that there is no particular concern which his country has.

Rather, Peru is putting forth a proposition to try to re-orientate resources in the region. Still, he believes that it is vital that each country have up-to-date equipment when talking about defence.

Rey also told Peruvian newspaper La Republica that with all these new bilateral projects Chile and Peru are taking on, he hopes that relations will also improve in regards to the border issue which the two countries have been debating for many years.

By Alia Alhafny – Santiago Times