Peru to buy military hardware from China, Brazil

LIMA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Peru is in talks to buy tanks from China and fighter planes from Brazil to replenish an "obsolete" military arsenal, officials said on Wednesday, just weeks after accusing Chile of starting an arms race.
President Alan Garcia has criticized Chile, which defeated Peru in the 19th century War of the Pacific, for negotiating the purchase of U.S. missiles and radar equipment.
Garcia has also tried to spearhead an anti-arms initiative in Latin America, where countries like Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia have been beefing up their armed forces.
"The government is in talks to acquire a fleet of tanks made in China to replace some of the obsolete units of the armed forces," Defense Minister Rafael Rey told local radio.
"It's about equipment replacement -- not about entering an incessant arms race," Prime Minister Javier Velasquez said on RPP radio.
Peru said Super Tucano planes it buys from Brazil's Embraer (ERJ.N)(EMBR3.SA) would be used to combat cocaine trafficking in remote parts of the Andes and Amazon jungle.
Peru's government, which hopes to replace Soviet-era tanks acquired in the 1970s, did not say how much it would spend on the new equipment.
Chilean Defense Minister Francisco Vidal has said any U.S. equipment that Chile buys would cost much less than a recent $650 million estimate provided by the Pentagon.
Vidal said potential purchases of missiles and Sentinel radar systems would not upset the military balance in South America.
Chile's armed forces have benefited from years of windfall copper earnings due to a law that entitles them to 10 percent of state copper giant Codelco's sales. The government has sent a bill to Congress that aims to scrap the Codelco payment. (Reporting by Marco Aquino and Dana Ford; Editing by Terry Wade and Peter Cooney)