In anticipation of an American move… Colombia buys Swedish warplanes
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that his country agreed to buy Swedish warplanes in a deal worth $4.3 billion concluded with Saab, in light of the tension his country is witnessing with the United States.
The government announced last April that it would buy fighter planes from Saab, but did not specify their number or the value of the deal.
Petro explained on Friday at an event held at a military base that Colombia would buy 17 fighter planes from Saab. Gripen.
Feels Colombia and most countries Latin America is concerned about the US military campaign targeting boats that Washington claims without any evidence are used to smuggle drugs in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.
Petro, who is the first leftist president of Colombia, exchanged insults with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, after he said that the ultimate goal of publishing US forcesis to seize Venezuela’s oil wealth and destabilize Latin America.
Petro said that "In a geopolitically turbulent world, this aggression can come from anywhere"The new aircraft will be used as a deterrent "Aggression against Colombia, whatever its source"
And Trump withdrew US financial aid allocated to Colombia, removing it from the list of countries considered allies in the fight against drug trafficking, and describing Petro as "Leader of the illegal drug trade"due to the high production of cocaine in Colombia.
American and French companies also tried to sell warplanes to Colombia, but in the end, Bogota chose Saab.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is close to Petro, says that the American military deployment in the region aims to overthrow his regime.
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