Flying First Class - Brief Article

Latin Trade, Feb, 2000

Chilean President Eduardo Frei's plan to purchase used aircraft just didn't fly with the country's air force. Since the United States lifted its embargo on arms sales to Latin America in 1997, the generals have been keen to buy the latest and greatest planes. Budgets being what they are, however, the Chilean government doesn't have the roughly US$600 million needed to upgrade its aging airforce. Hence, U.S. aircraft makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin as well as France's Dassault and Sweden's Saab are stuck in a holding pattern.

During a recent trip to Chile, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen suggested the sale of used aircraft after Chilean Defense Minister Edmundo Perez confirmed that brand-new jets were "absolutely beyond the means of the Chilean air force." Once Cohen left the country, the budget battles resumed with the air force saying that" under no circumstances" would it accept used planes.