Brazil asks US for transfer of military technology

Brasilia, April 25 (IANS/EFE) Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim has made a proposal to Pentagon chief Leon Panetta for collaboration in the military sphere including the transfer of US technology.

Amorim and Panetta met Tuesday in Brasilia at the first gathering of the bilateral committee for cooperation in defense matters, the creation of which was agreed to three weeks ago in Washington by Presidents Barack Obama and Dilma Rousseff.

At the meeting, which lasted about an hour, Amorim proposed to his US counterpart collaboration between their two nations, an association that would imply the transfer of military technology to the South American country.

At the joint press conference after the meeting, the minister said that Brazil is not demanding the technology itself, but rather access to it and he expressed his interest in engaging in a dialogue on "broader" questions in the area of security and defense.

The transfer of technology is one of the requirements that the Brazilian government normally demands in its international agreements to purchase machinery and vehicles.

The US recently committed itself to transfer technology for Super Hornet F/A-18 fighter jets - manufactured by Boeing - if Brazil accepts the US offer in the bidding to purchase 36 planes.

Also participating in the bidding are France's Dassault and Sweden's Saab.

Panetta's visit to Brasilia comes during a tour of Latin America that Monday took the defense secretary to Colombia and will conclude in Chile.

--IANS/EFE

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