DTN News: Bolivia To Host Servicing Center For Russian Aircraft

DTN News: Bolivia To Host Servicing Center For Russian Aircraft *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) BUENOS AIRES, Brazil - October 26, 2009: A technical support and repair facility for Russian aircraft in Bolivia will be built at a former U.S. base near the town of Chimore in the center of the country, Bolivian President Evo Morales said. "The Russian government has proposed to create a servicing center for Russian aircraft flying in Latin America. This center will be built here, in Chimore...and will later become an international airport, the largest in Bolivia," the Bolivian Patria Nueva radio quoted the president as saying at a Saturday meeting with his supporters prior to December 6 presidential elections. Morales said the initial investment in the construction is estimated at $5 million and the length of the existing runway will be extended by three times "to receive the most modern aircraft." Morales discussed last week the delivery of Russian aircraft with Nikolai Patrushev, chief of the Russian Security Council. Russia's Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company is planning to deliver about 60 An-148 regional passenger jets in the next decade. Russia received in August a request from the Bolivian government for a $100-mln loan to finance the purchase of a new presidential plane and a variety of Russian-made military equipment, including Mi-17 Hip multipurpose helicopters to combat terrorism and drug trafficking. During the talks in February, Moscow and La Paz signed a bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation.

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases *Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) LA PAZA, Bolivia - October 8, 2009: Bolivia is defending its light attack aircraft purchases from China and an open line of credit for military hardware imports from Russia, arguing that its weapons acquisitions are less significant than those by other South American countries. The Bolovian minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in a statement Bolivia spends less than its neighbors on military hardware and is committed to the principles of peace and dissuasion. "But we can't have armed forces that do not have access to the minimum equipment for their professional training and action if needed," San Miguel said, MercoPress reported. His comments followed other South American leaders' recent pronouncements criticizing arms purchases by their neighbors and calls for restraint in military expenditure. The Obama administration has said it is worried about huge arms purchases by nations that should be directing their cash resources to poverty reduction. The minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. The government of President Evo Morales has come under strong criticism for having approved the purchase worth $57.8 million -- funds that critics said should have been directed toward development in Bolivia. A similar model of the K-8 was bought earlier by Venezuela. Further criticism followed the open line of credit for arms purchases from Russia, though details of the arms purchases have not been revealed. The financing arrangement for the aircraft is not clear, but China is pursuing a combined diplomatic and economic campaign in South America to increase its footprint in the region, secure energy and raw materials for its burgeoning industrial growth and win friends where it had few in the past. China has also promised to put a Bolivian satellite into space. The aircraft was developed jointly by China and Pakistan as a two-seat trainer but later was fitted with advanced avionics and gun emplacements to function as a combat aircraft. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Morales has been at loggerheads with U.S. government agencies and suspended cooperation with Washington, accusing Drug Enforcement Administration agents

DTN News: Bolivia To Buy Presidential Plane An-148 From Russia

DTN News: Bolivia To Buy Presidential Plane An-148 From Russia *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) LA PAZ, Bolivia - September 13, 2009: President Evo Morales says Bolivia has decided to buy a presidential plane from Russia after Moscow offered to set up an aircraft maintenance center in the South American nation. Bolivia officially addressed to Russia with a request to provide a 100-million-dollar loan, the nation’s Defense Minister Walker San Miguel Rodriguez said. The money, the minister added, would be used to modernize the outdated military hardware in Bolivia and to purchase a presidential jetliner. The credit terms will be determined as soon as Russia gives its answer. It is worthy of note that Russia already gave a loan to Cuba last week. “It does not go about any arms race or a threat to any country. It goes about the normal replacement of military hardware. The government of Bolivia addressed to Russia with a request to provide a loan of $100 million for the modernization of Bolivian armed forces,” the defense minister said in an interview with a local radio station. The loan from Russia will give Bolivia an opportunity to replace the outdated hardware, which has been used in the nation during the recent 20 years. In addition, the country intends to acquire the An-148 jetliner as a presidential plane. The cost of the liner will make up about $30 million, Itar-Tass news agency reports. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel announced in early August that Bolivia had agreed to purchase an Antonov presidential plane with satellite phone, Internet links and a meeting room from Russia for $30 million. Morales postponed the purchase, but said his government has now decided to buy it because of the offer to set up a service center for Russian planes in Bolivia. Morales said Saturday the offer from President Dmitry Medvedev was delivered to him by Russia's ambassador. The current presidential plane is U.S.-made Sabre jet from the 1970s.

DTN News: Bolivia Looks To China, Brazil To Buy Combat Aircraft

DTN News: Bolivia Looks To China, Brazil To Buy Combat Aircraft

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) LA PAZ, Bolivia - September 1, 2009: Bolivia is looking to buy six combat aircraft from China or Brazil after the U.S. blocked the sale of Czech planes, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in remarks published Monday. The L159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA) was developed by Aero Vodochody to meet the Czech Air Force operational requirements for a light multi-role combat aircraft. The aircraft has been developed in the single-seat L159A and two-seat L159B versions. The Czech Air Force ordered 72 L159A aircraft and the first was delivered in April 2000. All 72 were delivered by the end of 2003. The L159B completed its first flight in June 2002 and the Czech Air Force has ordered two aircraft. Aero Vodochody was owned 50% by the Czech Government and 35% by the Boeing Company. However in October 2004, Boeing withdrew from the company. In November 2005, the Czech Government announced that the company was to be privatised and, in October 2006, was sold to Penta Investments AS. The L159 ALCA is based on the proven airframe design and aerodynamic configuration of the L39 Albatros and L59 family of basic and advanced jet trainers, and incorporates a high-performance military turbofan engine, advanced avionics and sensors. The operational capabilities of the aircraft include close air support, tactical reconnaissance, air defence, counter insurgency, border patrol, anti-ship missions, and lead-in fighter and weapons training. "They could be Chinese or they could be Super Tucanos from Brazil, one or the other," San Miguel was quoted as saying an in interview with the newspaper La Razon. He provided few details on the status of negotiations with either country. The government of leftist President Evo Morales last year tried to buy six L-159 ALCA two-seater light combat aircraft, made with U.S. components, from the Czech Republic for $58 million. But Morales disclosed last month that the sale had been vetoed by Washington. Bolivia also has been negotiating to buy arms and equipment from Russia worth about $100 million, including an Antonov aircraft for presidential travel outside the country.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 'To Restore US Ambassador'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 'To Restore US Ambassador'

(NSI News Source Info) April 19, 2009: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he expects to send an ambassador back to Washington soon, in a move towards restoring normal ties with the US. The announcement came at a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, where US President Barack Obama received a warm welcome from Latin American leaders. Mr Chavez expelled the US envoy to Caracas in September in "solidarity" with Bolivia. The US reciprocated. The dispute was over an alleged US plot against Bolivian President Evo Morales. Mr Chavez was a fierce critic of the United States under former President George W Bush, accusing Washington of plotting to assassinate him. Book gift But in a sign of warming ties, Mr Obama shook hands with President Chavez, and accepted a book from the Venezuelan leader. Chavez presents Obama with a gift Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) gives U.S. President Barack Obama a copy of "Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina" during a meeting at the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad April 18, 2009. Chavez presented the U.S. president with a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," by left-wing Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. Obama accepted the gift with a smile. Although they had already shaken hands when they met on Friday, Mr Chavez greeted him again on Saturday, this time pressing on him a book. In taking the gift, Mr Obama assumed it was a book by Mr Chavez himself, he said later. However, it was a Spanish-language copy of The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, a book by Eduardo Galeano chronicling exploitation in the region. Asked about his first meeting with George W Bush's successor, Mr Chavez said: "I think it was a good moment... I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous US president." It was unclear whether the two presidents would have a one-to-one meeting. Addressing the summit earlier, Mr Obama had cautioned Latin American leaders not to blame all their problems on the United States. Bolivian 'conspiracy' On a sour note, Bolivian President Morales asked the US president to publicly repudiate an alleged plot to assassinate him that officials in Bolivia say they crushed this week. Analysts say Mr Morales does not believe there was US involvement in the alleged plot. But he told reporters that since Mr Obama took office he has seen no change in US hostility. "In Bolivia... one doesn't feel any change. The policy of conspiracy continues," he said. Correspondents say the dominant issue so far has been US-Cuba relations. Cuba is the only major Latin American country excluded from the summit and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said another summit without the communist country would be unacceptable. President Morales said Cuba had the support of the entire world as a result of the US trade embargo against it and it was now time to abandon that embargo. Cuba issue For his part, Mr Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's recent proposal of direct talks. The US has not maintained high-level diplomatic relations with Cuba since Fidel Castro led the island's revolution in 1960. But Washington recently eased its embargo, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily. "I think we're making progress at the summit," Mr Obama told reporters after the meeting on Saturday in Port of Spain, ahead of summit plenary sessions. Summit leaders are expected to address the economic downturn and the region's energy and security needs at the talks, which end on Sunday. Aides to the US leader say he hopes to squeeze one-on-one meetings into his schedule along with the plenary sessions and group gatherings.

Latin Leaders Will Push President Barack Obama To End Cuban Embargo At Summit

Latin Leaders Will Push President Barack Obama To End Cuban Embargo At Summit

(NSI News Source Info) April 13, 2009: When Barack Obama arrives at the fifth Summit of the Americas this week, Cuba will be at the heart of the U.S. relationship with the rest of the hemisphere, exactly as it has been for half a century. While Latin American leaders split on many issues, they agree that Obama should lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. From Venezuelan socialist Hugo Chavez to Mexico’s pro- business Felipe Calderon, leaders view a change in policy toward Cuba as a starting point for reviving U.S. relations with the region, which are at their lowest point in two decades. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner enjoys a coffee as her Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales delivers a speech suggesting that the United States should be given an ultimatum to lift its embargo on Cuba or see its ambassadors across Latin America expelled, during the South America and Caribbean Summit in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. Morales said the incoming administration of President Barack Obama should be given a deadline for ending the economic sanctions in place against Cuba since 1962 or risk having US envoys declared personas non grata in Latin America. Obama, born six months before President John F. Kennedy imposed the embargo, isn’t prepared to support ending it. Instead, he will likely try to satisfy the leaders at the April 17-19 summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, with less ambitious steps -- such as repealing restrictions on family visits and remittances to Cuba that were imposed by former President George W. Bush. That would mesh with his stated goal of changing the perception of “U.S. arrogance” that he attributed to his predecessor in his sole policy speech on the region last May. “All of Latin America and the Caribbean are awaiting a change in policy toward Cuba,” Jose Miguel Insulz, Secretary General of the Washington-based Organization of American States, said in an interview. “They value what Obama has promised, but they want more.” Symbolically Important Cuba, the only country in the hemisphere excluded from the 34-nation summit, is symbolically important to the region’s leaders, many of whom entered politics under military regimes and looked to Cuba and its longtime leader Fidel Castro, 82, for inspiration and support. Even though most countries shun the communist policies of Castro and his brother, now-President Raul Castro, the U.S. alone in the hemisphere rejects diplomatic and trade relations with the island. “Cuba represents a 50-year policy failure in Latin America and that’s why it’s so important for Obama to address it now,” says Wayne Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, who headed the State Department’s Cuba interest section in Havana from 1979-1982. “Unless Obama wants to be booed off the stage, he better come with fresh ideas.” The U.S. president, 47, thinks it would be “unfortunate” if Cuba is the principal theme at the summit and would prefer the session focus instead on the economy, poverty and the environment, says Jeffrey Davidow, the White House’s top adviser for the meeting. Obama also understands that he can’t control the discussion and intends to deal with the other leaders as partners, Davidow told reporters on April 6. Past Protests That should be enough to avoid a repeat of the circus atmosphere surrounding the previous summit, held in 2005 in Argentina, when 30,000 protesters led by Chavez and Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona burned an effigy of Bush. Obama will also benefit from the U.S.’s decision to take off the table its earlier proposal for a free-trade area spanning the Americas, an issue that divided countries at the four previous summits starting in 1994. Still, Obama’s meeting with Chavez, who last month called the U.S. president an “ignoramus” when it comes to Latin America, has the potential to generate a few sparks. To defuse the tension, Obama may say the U.S. is seeking good relations with governments across the political spectrum, says Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based research group. Chavez, 54, joined Bolivian President Evo Morales, an ally, in expelling the U.S. ambassadors to their countries in September for alleged interference in domestic politics. ‘Unpredictable’ Chavez “The main concern at this point for the U.S. is the unpredictability of Chavez,” Hakim says. U.S. influence in Latin America waned under Bush as the war on terror diverted attention to the Middle East while the region expanded economic and diplomatic ties with Russia, China and other outside-the-hemisphere powers. In December, Brazil hosted the first-ever, region-wide summit of Latin American and Caribbean nations that excluded the U.S. The summit reinforced other initiatives such as the Union of South American Nations, which was formed by 12 countries to mediate regional conflicts, bypassing the OAS. Taking the “minor step” of easing travel restrictions to Cuba, a campaign pledge Obama made almost a year ago, may not satisfy the region’s increasingly assertive leaders, Julia Sweig, director of the Latin America program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview from Washington. ‘A Lot on the Table’ “The Cubans are putting a lot on the table,” says Sweig, the author of two books on Cuba, including the forthcoming “Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know.” “The U.S. should test their intentions.” From Havana to the halls of Congress, momentum for a detente is building. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged Obama last month to begin direct talks with the Cuban government and end U.S. opposition to its membership in the OAS. Other bills would lift travel restrictions for all U.S. citizens. Last week, the Cuban American National Foundation, the leading organization for Cuban exiles, which is headed by a veteran of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, urged a “new direction” in policy toward Cuba and expressed backing for several of Obama’s proposals. U.S. public opinion favors normalizing relations 59 percent to 29 percent, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll taken Jan. 27-28. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Meeting With Fidel Fidel Castro last week met with seven U.S. lawmakers and in a column published on the Internet said Cuba “doesn’t fear dialogue with the U.S.” Manuel Marrero Faz, senior oil adviser at the Ministry of Basic Industries, said in an interview this month that U.S. oil companies, expropriated on the island in 1960, would be welcomed back to drill if the embargo ends. Obama said in May he’s taking his cues from predecessor Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor” policy, announced in 1933, temporarily ended a long history of U.S. armed intervention in Latin America and ushered in an era of unprecedented hemispheric prosperity. For his effort, Roosevelt was praised in a 1936 calypso, “FDR in Trinidad,” commemorating his stopover in the Caribbean island during a 28-day cruise to Latin America. Obama, who has yet to set foot in the region, is already the subject of 20 steel-drum tunes, says Ray Funk, a calypso expert in Fairbanks, Alaska. The most widely played, Funk says, is one called “Barack the Magnificent.”

Bolivia To Get Russian Helicopters To Fight Drugs

Bolivia To Get Russian Helicopters To Fight Drugs

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW — February 17, 2009: Bolivia will receive helicopters from Russia to help fight drugs and assistance to develop energy resources in the poor South American country, the Russian president said Monday. The moves were part of Moscow's push for more clout in Latin America. Bolivian President Evo Morales became the first leader from the landlocked, Andean nation to visit Russia since Moscow and La Paz established diplomatic relations in 1945. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, welcomes Bolivian President Evo Morales, right, during their meeting in the Kremlin, Moscow, Monday, Feb. 16, 2009. Morales is in Russia on an official visit. Morales and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration emphasizing their similar positions on global issues and opposition to U.S. policies including the decades-old embargo against Cuba, plans for a missile shield in Europe and NATO expansion. Morales praised the resurgence of Russian attention to Latin America, where Medvedev has courted Soviet-era allies and others in a bid to increase Moscow's influence and further its economic interests. He met with Morales in November during a regional tour that included Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Cuba. "Russia's return to the region is very important," Morales said at a joint news conference. Medvedev said Russia's activities in Latin America are not aimed at undermining the U.S. But plans to provide Bolivia with helicopters follow disputes with Washington over anti-narcotics efforts that badly strained Bolivia's ties with the Bush administration. Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador in September and suspended operations of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which he accused of spying. Before leaving for Moscow, he said he would discuss the immediate purchase of helicopters and loans of other aircraft to fight production of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine. Medvedev and Morales oversaw the signing of agreements calling for cooperation in the arms trade and anti-narcotics efforts. Medvedev indicated Russia expects to reach a deal to provide helicopters soon. "We hope that implementation of the first large contract, for the supply of Russian helicopters to Bolivia, will begin in the very near future," Medvedev said. Medvedev did not say how many helicopters Moscow might provide, but Russia's top arms sales official, Mikhail Dmitriyev, suggested that it would be fewer than 20. Dmitriyev said Venezuela is also interested in other Russian weapons, and that Russia might loan Bolivia money to buy the helicopters and other arms, the state-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. Medvedev stressed the importance of energy cooperation and said Russia's gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom, has signed memorandums to establish a "strategic project" for long-term involvement in Bolivia. "We are talking about the Russian side helping our friends from Bolivia in the development of hydrocarbons and the construction of a gas transport system on the territory of Bolivia," Medvedev said.