Arms Trafficking and Arms Transfers Update
This post was prepared by WOLA Intern Laura Fontaine.
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Much controversy has ensued after a North Korean ship traveling from Cuba through the Panama Canal was found to have missile, radar, and plane components hidden under several tons of sugar.
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The development and use of drones is on the rise in Mexico, reports México Seguridad. They are used for surveillance, inspection, search, rescue, and protection of the environment. Mexican drone manufacturers include Jalisco-based Hydra Technologies and Monterey-based SOS Global. The Federal Police has the largest inventory of drones.
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“Brazilian plane maker Embraer SA has sold six Super Tucano light attack planes to Guatemala to bolster its fight against drug trafficking, according to a senior executive.”
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Of 6,000 confiscated firearms in a Guatemala sample, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms determined that at least 40 percent “had a nexus with the United States,” according to a Woodrow Wilson Center study.
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The U.S. Army awarded Textron Marine and Land Operating Systems awarded a $5.5 million contract to provide 12 armored turrets, technical support services, vehicle repairs and spare parts for the Colombian Army’s Armored Personnel Carriers.
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The Paraguayan Army developed plans to buy 20 refurbished trucks from Germany. They were bought for a “symbolic price” of $1 million.
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In Paraguay, where illegal arms trafficking by military personnel has been a consistent problem in recent years, those who are accused of the crime are released before fulfilling their sentence or face a benign punishment.
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As part of preparations for hosting a visit from Pope Francis, the World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics Brazil has made plans to buy 34 used anti-aircraft tanks from the German Army. The type of tanks they will be purchasing are “armed with two 35 mm guns mounted on a rotating turret atop a Leopard 1 tank chassis.”
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Peruvian President Ollanta Humala participated in a ceremony of inspecting and sending 42 specially equipped trucks to a region, known as the VRAEM, where the remnants of the Shining Path armed group still remain.
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The Law for Disarmament, Control of Arms and Munitions in Venezuela has granted an administrative and commercial monopoly of all arms to the Ministry of Defense.
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A decree has been added to a law Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff signed into the books in March of last year regarding the Brazilian defense contractors and strengthening of the military industry. “The bill under the heading of ‘Law to promote the industrial base of defense’ is geared to incentivize Brazil’s arms industry so that it becomes the main provider of the Armed Forces; to develop technologies, produce at lesser costs, introduce the most added value to those products and increase exports.”