MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Military expenditure in South America, lowest in the world

Military expenditure in the twelve countries of South America, according to 2008 budgets, has reached a record 50 billion US dollars which is 2.5% higher than in 2007.

A private report released Wednesday in Argentina titled Military Balance in South America, elaborated by the New Majority Studies from Buenos Aires reflect the increase in military spending which is considered relevant in the context of the Brazilian proposal for the creation of a Regional Defence Council. "All countries have increased their defense budgets, with Paraguay leading (up 33.48%), a tendency followed by Brazil with a hike of 32.48%", said the report. The four full members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) average 30% increase on an annual base with an overall expenditure of 30.9 billion US dollars. Military expenditure from the Andean Community of Nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) has reached 9.4 billion US dollars, while Chile figures with 4.9 billion and Venezuela, 3.3 billion. "However in spite of the significant increase in military budgets, South America is still the region, together with the rest of Latinamerica, which less resources invests and has a lower percentage of GDP dedicated to defense", points out the report. Overall military expenditure in the 12 countries considered represents 4% of total world military expenditure and 9% of the US defense budget. The region on average spends 1.7% of GDP in military expenditure. The two countries with the largest military outlays are Colombia and Chile equivalent to over 3% of GDP compared to Argentina and Venezuela with 1% on average, the two countries which nevertheless have most increased military investments in the last five years, points out Nueva Mayoría.