Bolivia Opts for Chinese Military Equipment

Military suppliers hoping to take part in Bolivia's military regeneration program have been beaten to the game by the Chinese, who are supplying the Latin American country with military vehicles and possibly more.Military and security industries, often backed by governments, have been pursuing Latin American markets to expand their customer base on the continent. Both France and Russia sent high-powered delegations to South America in 2009 to pitch for lucrative arms sales on preferential credit terms. Russia signed deals with Venezuela and France initialed agreements in Brazil worth tens of billions of dollars.Brazil insists on transfer of technology and deals that will enable it to develop its own defense manufacturing industries. The smaller countries, however, lack both financial and human resources to take on technology-transfer arrangements and prefer instead a straightforward import of manufactured defense items.The China-Bolivia agreement is one such deal, in which the Chinese have begun supplying Bolivia with military vehicles and spare parts and more, possibly on easy repayment terms, analysts said....................................................UPI

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