Defense Minister Javier García visited the Pentagon to move forward with the agreed donations and improve Uruguayan capabilities in terms of army material.
The minister of Defender, Javier Garcia, met with directors of Pentagon on his visit to USA, to relaunch dialogue on issues of national defense with the North American country.
For the first time in 25 years, a South American Defense Minister visits the Pentagon, and the head of this Uruguayan portfolio was the one who had the honor of breaking such a long period without meetings. During his visit to the United States, García met with directors of this American institution, as well as with the hemispheric undersecretary of the Department of State, Brian Nichols; deputy undersecretary of Advocacy for the Western Hemisphere, Dan Erickson; the undersecretary of Policy Advocacy, Colin Kahl; and the adviser of the White House for the region, John Gonzalez.
According to the Uruguayan official, they worked “on a cooperation agenda in defense matters”; and participated in the relaunch of the bilateral Defense Working Group. He also announced that there is an approved donation of armored vehicles for the Army, essential for Uruguayan participation in peacekeeping missions. United Nations.
“We are working on different means and capacities for the three forces, but we are at the stage of working and specifying those possibilities,” said García, who was accompanied by the Uruguayan ambassador to the United States. andres duranthe head of the General Staff of the Air Defense General Rodolfo Pereyrathe deputy director of the ministry Cipriano Goñi and the military attachés in Washington.
A visit with some claims
As García announced from Washington, Uruguay hopes that the donation of armored vehicles for the Armyfinally take place. In fact, the Defense Minister pressured his US counterparts to speed up the times they are contemplating for the shipment of the equipment, since the country cannot wait much longer.
However, the official also explained that The United States does not understand the needs of Latin America, and that he still speaks “in different times and priorities” than those of the region.
Meanwhile, Uruguay is going through a deep crisis in terms of military equipment that it has not yet been able to resolve despite the many efforts to obtain donated or transferred material at much lower prices. In this sense, García has also planned a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart for next Monday, during the inauguration of the Rivera binational airport.
Source: Ambito
