Following the meeting between Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon and his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak, Colombia Monday opened the possibility of purchasing unmanned drone aircraft from Israel, reported local media.
The Colombian defense minister did not rule out the purchase of the drones and said his country was open to acquiring “new technologies” and was developing “new plans (…) to continue strengthening the military capacity of Colombia.”
Pinzon said “Colombia has had access to Israeli companies to acquire technology equipment for years.”
Barak also admitted in a press release that there would be “limitations and restrictions” in business of this nature but would “see what we can do to move forward.”
Barak said the theme of the first day his visit — the first by an Israeli defense minister — was “issues of geostrategic interest (…) in the fight against transnational organized crime and to evaluate relative safety aspects” in the two countries.
As well as negotiating possible arms deals, Pinzon said that in the meeting with Barak both parties agreed to share their skill set with the other nation in order to strengthen their armed forces.
“We have offered [Israel] (…) the experience our military forces have accrued in areas such as special forces operations, and maritime and forest operations,” he said.
Barak added that his country wanted to develop cooperation with Colombia beyond just matters of defense.
“Israel sees Colombia as one of its best friends and hopes to maintain this level of cooperation, and this goes beyond the area of security,” he said.
