Despite the continuing global economic recession in 2009, the total arms sales of the SIPRI Top 100 of the world’s largest arms-producing companies increased by 14.8 billion USD from 2008 to reach 401 billion USD, a real increase of 8%, according to new data on international arms production released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Alfredo Moreno Charme said he does not see an “arms race” in the continent and suggested following the Argentine–Chilean experience of “homologating military expenditure”.
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) agreed over the week end to boost defence expending transparency to ensure regional stability which, according to Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador is threatened by a controversial military agreement between United States and Colombia.
The Peruvian government’s claim that Chile is undergoing a tremendous arms build-up has once again come to the forefront of Latin American international relations.