Lima (AFP) – Peru’s foreign and defense ministers resigned on Wednesday in protest over the decision by the government to stall a $3.5 billion deal for the purchase of 24 US F-16 fighter jets. The ministers said Peru’s reputation was in jeopardy after interim president Jose Maria Balcazar said Tuesday he would leave it up to the winner of June’s presidential runoff to finalize the agreement.
Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela told RPP radio he stood down “because the political decision made by Mr. Balcazar endangers our country and undermines its credibility.” The minister claimed the contracts for the F-16s had already been signed and said putting them on hold now turned Peru into “a country that cannot be trusted in a negotiation process.”
Defense Minister Carlos Diaz gave similar reasons for his resignation and said the purchase of jets was not political but “for the security and defense of the nation.” The US ambassador to Peru, Bernardo Navarro, last week issued a warning widely believed to relate to the deal. “If you deal with the US in bad faith and undermine US interests, rest assured, I, on behalf of @POTUS Trump and his administration, will use every available tool to protect and promote the prosperity and security of the United States and our region,” he wrote on X.
In October 2024, Peru announced that it would renew its ageing air defense fleet with the purchase of a fleet of state-of-the-art fighter jets. Last February, a state evaluation committee chose the F-16s over rival bids from France for Rafale jets and Sweden for Gripens. The contract has become swept up in a chaotic presidential election marked by logistical problems, unsubstantiated fraud allegations, and delays to the ballot count.
Ten days after Peruvians voted in the first round, it is still not known who will face off against conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in June’s runoff.
© 2024 AFP
