Planes, from Spain, to Colombia’s Gain
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Fresh from an expedition that sold $2 billion worth of military hardware to the Hugo Chavez’ regime in Venezuela, Spain’s Defence Minister is offering to sell 21 light transport aircraft to the neighbouring state of Colombia – and if they buy, he’ll throw in 4 helicopters for free. Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono declined to disclose the value of the deal but said the planes were being offered at a discount. “We are not doing a business deal here. We are doing something that shows solidarity in the face of terrorism and in favor of peace.” Colombia is currently embroiled in a longstanding war with the narco-guerillas of FARC, which the Chavez regime has been accused of supporting.
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Reuters reports that the offer consists of “12 planes from the air force and nine newer planes from aircraft maker EADS-CASA… along with four army helicopters.” The “planes from the air force” would likely be CASA 212s that have been in service for some time, and are being replaced by “newer planes” like CASA’s C-235 or the stretched C-295. Spain has donated C-212s to Colombia before as components of “antiterrorism packages,” and like Colombia it operates the venerable UH-1H Huey (see Colombia’s air force order of battle); this type would be both convenient for Spain to transfer as a free throw-in, and convenient for Colombia to receive.
