La Paz: Bolivia is looking to buy six combat aircraft from China or Brazil after the United States blocked the sale of Czech planes, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in remarks published Monday.
“They could be Chinese or they could be Super Tucanos from Brazil, one or the other,” San Miguel was quoted as saying an in interview with the newspaper La Razon.
He provided few details on the status of negotiations with either country.
The government of leftist President Evo Morales last year tried to buy six L-159 ALCA two-seater light combat aircraft, made with US components, from the Czech Republic for 58 million dollars.
But Morales disclosed last month that the sale had been vetoed by Washington.
Bolivia also has been negotiating to buy arms and equipment from Russia worth some 100 million dollars, including an Antonov aircraft for presidential travel outside the country.
