Weekly Report - 15 January 2009 (ISSN 1741-7422)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Tucanos. The government completed the purchase of eight Super Tucano light-attack aircraft from Brazil's aeronautical behemoth, Embraer, last week. It aims to use the aircraft to assist with patrolling the porous 338km border with Haiti and improving drug interdiction, as well as sealing the border to gunrunners and people traffickers. The cost of the Tucanos was not divulged by Embraer but as a yardstick of comparison, Colombia recently purchased 25 of the aircraft for US$235m.