Open arms: Latin America rearms its military, this time with high-tech weaponry.

Armed conflicts have largely become a thing for the history books in Latin America, but that's not stopping militaries from stocking up. Defense spending in the region will hit 1.5% of combined gross domestic product (GDP), according to Red de Seguridad y Defensa de America Latina (Resdal), a Buenos Aires military research center. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London research center on conflict, governments in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela will spend a combined US$30.70 billion on their militaries this year.

Spending climbed to as high as 6% of GDP in the 1980s, but Latin American militaries' needs are changing. Today, military spending is all about upgrading technology, says Javier Galaz, an adviser to the Chilean Defense Ministry. "Radar, submarines and planes are our priorities now," he says.

Chile, for instance, is buying things that have never existed in the region before. Santiago since 2003 has purchased 100 German Leopard II battle tanks, two submarines stocked with missiles from France and Spain, as well as 18 used F-16 aircraft from Holland. It also bought 10 F-16 fighter jets equipped with air-to-air missiles from the United States. "Our purchasing policy is defensive and transparent," Galaz says.

In Colombia, domestic conflicts with guerrillas and drug traffickers force the military to stock up differently in order to prosecute its particular kind of war. The Colombian military budget is one of the highest in the region at $6.30 billion, a figure which includes U.S. aid distributed under Plan Colombia.

Aircraft munitions, devices to clear minefields and hand grenades are among the army's chief needs in its multi-front war. But that's not enough, says Alvaro Villareal, manager of Industria Militar, Colombia's state-owned military supplier. New computers and modern communication equipment are also on the list, followed by new combat and surveillance aircraft, as well as helicopters. "We are always going to need more munitions and more uniforms, but the big purchases normally take place abroad," Villareal says.

On the flip side is Venezuela, led by President Hugo Chavez, a former paratrooper on a military spending spree across Europe. According to Fabian Calle, a Redsal defense specialist, Venezuela is buying guns to arm a portion of its civilian population. Last May, Chavez bought 100,000 Russian-made AK-103 rifles for $120 million. "It's difficult to see a trend in Chavez' purchases but it appears that his intention is to invest in tangible factors, like armed, civil militias," Calle says.

This year, the budget for the Venezuelan defense sector rose 31% to $2 billion, not counting $2.20 billion in purchase orders already under contract. Chavez is out to buy more Russian jet fighters to replace his aging fleet of F-16s. Thanks to strained relations between Caracas and Washington, the U.S. has banned arms sales and related equipment to Venezuela.

Deteriorating. According to Mark Bromley, an analyst at the Real Instituto Elcano, a Madrid security think tank, Venezuela's recent purchases not only illustrate strained ties with Washington, but also the deteriorating state of the Venezuelan military over the last five years. "It was a completely hollow institution," says Bromley.

Brazil, meanwhile, spends $13.20 billion on its military, the most in the region. The country is stepping up its radar equipment and its surveillance equipment to tighten up security in the large Amazon regions of the country.

Two of the region's main economies, Mexico and Argentina, won't beef up military spending. That doesn't mean deals won't be made. Argentina earmarked $1.80 billion for defense spending this year, and Mexico set aside $3.35 billion. "Those figures are almost identical as in years past," says Catalina Perdomo, an analyst at Real Instituto Elcano.

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DARCY A. CROWE * BOGOTA