Escalating tensions between Colombia and Israel over the Gaza war could undo decades of close military ties between them and hamper Colombia’s ability to fight drug traffickers and rebels, security analysts say.
Yeah because Israel is the only arms dealer in the world. The South Koreans are eager to sell their Samsung war machines to foreign regimes.
From the article:
Colombia deepened its military ties with Israel in the late 80’s by purchasing a group of Kfir fighter jets. The war planes… are able to launch laser-guided bombs.
But as Colombia’s fleet of 22 Kfir fighter jets becomes older it also relies more frequently on maintenance from its Israeli manufacturers
So while Columbia could potentially buy new armaments from other places it might be difficult buying replacement parts for these planes. Also since Columbia’s air force is dependent on these fighters buying new fighters means retraining everyone from pilots to maintenance crews. That’s a serious undertaking. If you’ve ever switched phones from iPhone to Android you know the difficulty in muscle memory vs a new GUI layout. Imagine having that difficulty at 30,000 ft going mach 1 (I made those numbers up as just an illustration).
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Colombia’s government also recently hired an Israeli company to outfit two Boeing 737’s with electronic warfare equipment and intelligence tools that can help the military jam communications of the nation’s remaining rebel groups and monitor their movements.
But as Colombia’s fleet of 22 Kfir fighter jets becomes older it also relies more frequently on maintenance from its Israeli manufacturers, said Erich Saumeth Cadavid, a Colombian defense analyst.
Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, a military analyst and president of Second Floor Strategies, a consulting firm based in Washington, said that the effects of Israel’s export ban will take some months to be felt by Colombia’s armed forces.
Another contract that could be jeopardized by the ban, Sánchez said, is a license through which Colombia’s state owned military factory, Indumil, produces Israeli designed Galil assault rifles, which have become the principal weapon used on the ground by Colombian troops.
Petro, who was once a member of a left-wing rebel group that made peace with Colombia’s government in the 1990s, has written dozens of messages on X about the war in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7.
He announced Colombia would send humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza strip and wrote on his account that he had told both ambassadors about his desire to help set up an “international peace conference that opens the path for two free and independent states.”
The original article contains 1,048 words, the summary contains 230 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
