The United States said Thursday it had approved a $1.5 billion deal for the expansion of a naval base in Peru, where China has funded a separate mega-port.
The State Department said that Peru requested to buy $1.5 billion in equipment and services as part of its modernisation in Callao, the country’s main naval base which is near the international airport in Lima.
The project will bring up to 20 US personnel from the government or private sector to Peru for up to 10 years, the State Department said.
The sale will “improve the security of an important partner which is a force for political stability, peace and economic progress in South America,” the State Department said in a statement.
The United States has a long security partnership with Peru, where lawmakers have authorised the presence of US troops.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in 2024, inaugurated a $3.5 billion commercial port in Peru, the first such project by Beijing in Latin America.
Unlike the base expansion, which is being funded by Peru, China put forward the financing for the port.
President Donald Trump’s administration has vowed to close Latin America to other powers, seeing it as the domain of the United States.
In 2024, the Callao commercial port announced a $400 million deal with an Emirati company that will raise capacity by 80 percent.
AFP
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