Rs 356900000000: Major blow to Trump, THIS Country strikes biggest defence deal with Sweden, to acquire 17 deadly fighter jets, it is…
Petro noted that a deal had been finalized with Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab for the purchase of 17 Gripen fighter jets.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday confirmed the historic $4.3-billion defence agreement, under which 17 Gripen fighter jets are to be procured from a Swedish aircraft manufacturer. This military procurement is being carried out amid the upswing in tensions between Colombia and the United States. Doland Trump has made an overt threat against Petro.
What triggered this BIGGEST defence deal with Sweden?
Petro stated on social media that the aircraft is being procured to deter aggression against Colombia and to promote the country’s peace. The purchase agreement was initially announced in April, but now has an explicit cost and a confirmed number of aircraft.
Which fighter jets will Colombia receive under this agreement?
Taking to social media, Petro stated,” This is a deterrent weapon to achieve peace.” In his comments on Friday, Petro noted that a deal had been finalized with Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab for the purchase of 17 Gripen fighter jets, which provided the first acknowledgment of both the number and price of the military purchase first announced in April.
What does this defence move signal amid rising tensions with Trump?
The request to purchase warplanes comes as Colombia and much of the rest of Latin America are on edge with a US military build-up in the region, and as US forces are executing a campaign of lethal attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The US has recently struck 20 boats in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, killing about 80 people. The US claimed that they were being used for drug trafficking, but provided no evidence. The US has accused Petro and President Nicolás Maduro of involvement with drug traffickers, but both Petro and Maduro deny those charges entirely.
According to an Al Jazeera report, Petro stated that the new warplanes will be utilized to prevent “aggression against Colombia, wherever it may come from.” “In a world that is geopolitically messy,” he stated, such aggression “can come from anywhere.”
For weeks, the Colombian president has been engaged in verbal clashes with Doland Trump, asserting that the main objective of the U.S. presence in the region is to take control of Venezuela’s oil resources and undermine stability in Latin America.
Trump has historically accused Venezuela’s Maduro of drug trafficking and most recently called Petro “an illegal drug leader” due to Colombia’s high cocaine production. Trump also withdrew American financial assistance from Colombia and removed it from its list of countries considered allies against international drug trafficking, as reported by Al Jazeera.
In the midst of the continuing conflict of words between Washington and Bogota, Petro said last week that Colombia will suspend intelligence sharing with the US in the fight against drug trafficking. However, officials in his administration quickly retracted that statement.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- US and French companies had also attempted to sell warplanes to Colombia; however, in the end, Bogota decided on Saab from Sweden.
- Petro said last week that Colombia will suspend intelligence sharing with the US in the fight against drug trafficking.
- The Colombian president has been engaged in verbal clashes with Doland Trump.
- Petro stated,” This is a deterrent weapon to achieve peace.”
According to the AFP news agency, US and French companies had also attempted to sell warplanes to Colombia; however, in the end, Bogota decided on Saab from Sweden. Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson stated that Colombia would join Sweden, Brazil, and Thailand to next choose the Gripen fighter jet, and defense relations between Bogota and Stockholm would “deepen significantly.”
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