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”.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will travel to Brazil and Peru from May 25-28 to meet with government leaders, leading figures from the private sector, and with students and academics as part of efforts to engage more closely with stakeholders in the region.
Defence officials from Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina will be participating in a high level meeting to coordinate efforts for the elimination of anti-personnel mines which still remain in border fields of the four countries involved.
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.
The earthquake in Chile earlier this year destroyed Chilean processing plants tightening world supply of fishmeal and causing world market prices to hit an all-time high. Chile is the world’s second biggest exporter of fishmeal, second only to Peru.
Latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict Chile and Peru will lead Latin America’s growth in 2011 with an expansion of 6% each. The IMF released its World Economic Outlook Report on Wednesday, upping Chile’s projected growth from 4 to 4.7%.
Protesters in the southern Peruvian province of Islay ended their six-day general strike after the government agreed to temporarily suspend a controversial mining project.
Latinamerican countries with a greater link to China such as Chile, Brazil and Peru are moving out of the crisis faster and stronger according to a World Bank report which underlines the increasing significance of the Asian giant for the region.