New law financing the Armed Forces to be approved before the end of the year

SANTIAGO.- The Chilean government has decided to revoke the so-called “copper Law”, which supports the military government by establishing that ten percent of gross sales from the public corporation Codelco – the world’s leading copper producer— be allocated to the national Armed Forces.

The new law, according to announcements made today by several official sources, will be approved before the end of the year and will call for defense budget strategies to be organized into four-year plans.

“It is not very democratic that significant portions of national resources are distributed without being debated within the country’s democratic body, which is Parliament”, stated the Undersecretary of Aviation, Raúl Vergara.

The state-owned Copper Corporation (Codelco) reported net earnings of 8.451 billion U.S. dollars during 2007, 1.39 billion of which had to be turned over to the Chilean Armed Forces in accordance with a reserve law that has persisted since its creation, during the military regime (1973-1990).