According to the 'Copper Reserve Law' "rule instituted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the armed forces receive annually 10% of the profits of state-owned Codelco , an amount that is earmarked for the purchase or renovation of military equipment.
SANTIAGO, August 14. Chile's Armed Forces will receive $ 364 million during the first half of 2009, as a result of profits from the sale of copper, reported Thursday Codelco, the leading global producer of copper.The amount means a 50% drop from what obtained in the similar period in 2008 when the sector Defense received $ 729 million.
The low price of copper during the first half of the year as a result of the economic crisis hurt the profits from Chilean copper company, whose profits reached $ 722 million, down 82.4% over the same period in 2008, as stated in its interim results.
Defense Fund, which in the past eight years has received U.S. $ 6.272 million, has allowed Chile to invest heavily military, raising the trouble from neighboring countries like Peru and Bolivia.
Peruvian authorities recently accused Chile to be in an "arms race" issue rejected by James, which ensures that the latest purchases are for the renewal of obsolete material.
On Wednesday, Chile reported that it will soon send a bill to amend the rule in question.
"The Government will enter in the coming weeks a bill to Congress to change the law, because it places the funding of the armed forces into a modern concept," said Chile's Defense Minister, Francisco Vidal. Santiago
in recent years embarked on a modernization of its armed forces, who authorities say is aimed at the professionalization of the soldiers and the renovation of old material with a more modern and efficient.
The buying process has included the acquisition of F-16 fighter planes, tanks, helicopters, frigates and submarines, among others.
Peru introduced in 2008 a lawsuit in the International Court at The Hague so that you recognize their rights to some 67,000 km2 in the Pacific Ocean, over which Chile currently holds domain.
SOURCE: AFP
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