United States Arms Sales Latin America

In Latin America, President Clinton has tried to play both sides of the arms sale game. As a result, he has managed to rile both sellers and buyers. On Aug. 1, President Clinton lifted a 20-year-old ban on the sale of U.S. arms to Latin America. That disheartened arms control advocates in the United States. About the same time, he secretly wrote to the most likely Latin American customer, Chilean President Eduardo Frei, urging him to hold off on buying any arms.

In Latin America, President Clinton has tried to play both sides of the arms sale game. As a result, he has managed to rile both sellers and buyers. On Aug. 1, President Clinton lifted a 20-year-old ban on the sale of U.S. arms to Latin America. That disheartened arms control advocates in the United States. About the same time, he secretly wrote to the most likely Latin American customer, Chilean President Eduardo Frei, urging him to hold off on buying any arms.

President Clinton ended a 20-year-old ban Friday on the sale of high-tech U.S. warplanes and advanced weapons to Latin America. The decision to allow sales of high-performance planes to the region comes as Chile has begun shopping around to replace its fighter planes and has shown interest in F-16s made by Lockheed. The Carter administration imposed the arms sale ban at a time when most Latin American countries were under military regimes.

President Clinton ended a 20-year-old ban Friday on the sale of high-tech U.S. warplanes and advanced weapons to Latin America. The decision to allow sales of high-performance planes to the region comes as Chile has begun shopping around to replace its fighter planes and has shown interest in F-16s made by Lockheed. The Carter administration imposed the arms sale ban at a time when most Latin American countries were under military regimes.