F-16 Fighting Falcon News

December 23, 2007 (by Eric L. Palmer) - According to a report by Xinhua news service, Argentina is no longer considering the F-16 to replace some of it's older fighter aircraft.
This started as the result of a US accusation that the Venezuelan government provided political campaign donation for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Quoting Xinhua: "Fernandez publicly criticized the US for trying to spoil her new presidency and promised to keep a closer tie with her Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez."

The last time U.S. fighter aircraft were acquired by the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina or FAA) was in the 1990s when they received A-4M Skyhawks (known as A-4AR Fightinghawks.)

Buenos Aires press revealed that two months ago representatives from Israel's air and space industry visited Buenos Aires offering an upgraded, multipurpose model of the US manufacture F16.

The French are also under consideration. Recently, a special envoy from French president Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated the offer from the previous administration of President Jacques Chirac: 12 Mirage 2000 for a total price of 90 million Euros.