Colombia’s Petro signs $4.3b deal for 17 Swedish fighter jets amid regional tensions
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has confirmed a $4.3 billion deal to purchase 17 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden’s Saab, amid rising tensions between Colombia and the United States. The announcement provides the first official details on the size and cost of the military acquisition, initially revealed in April.
“This is a deterrent weapon to achieve peace,” Petro said on social media, emphasizing that the jets are intended to protect Colombia against any external aggression, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
The acquisition comes as Latin America remains on edge over a US military build-up in the region, alongside a controversial campaign of strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Washington claims these attacks target drug-smuggling operations, but critics—including Latin American leaders, legal scholars, and human rights groups—accuse the US of carrying out extrajudicial killings without due process.
Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have both denied US allegations linking them to the drug trade. The Colombian leader argued that US operations in the region are motivated by efforts to control Venezuelan oil wealth and destabilize Latin America.
The deal also marks a strengthening of defense ties between Colombia and Sweden, with Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson noting that Bogota joins Sweden, Brazil, and Thailand in choosing the Gripen fighter jet.
While US and French firms had also pitched warplanes to Colombia, the government ultimately selected Sweden’s Saab. Petro reiterated that the jets are intended to deter aggression “wherever it may come from” in a geopolitically unstable world.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic friction, Petro briefly threatened to suspend intelligence-sharing with the US on drug trafficking, though Colombian officials quickly scaled back the move.
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