Senior officials have said that Chile wants all Latin American countries to be as transparent as it considers itself to be to remove the specter of a developing arms race on the continent.

He does not see an "arms race" on the continent but emphasized it would help to make public who was buying what and why, Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Alfredo Moreno Charme said. Other officials told the media they want Chile's neighbors to follow its example.

It has been reported that the Stockholm Peace Research Institute cited statistics and official pronouncements to indicate South American arms acquisitions continue to be a source of tension. SIPRI cited Peruvian President Alan Garcia's call for a military non-aggression pact among countries in South America.

Garcia, who traveled in the region in 2009 to campaign for cuts in arms purchases and channeling of resources to development and poverty reduction programs, called for commitment to transparency and confidence-building to remove concerns over armament.

It was further reported that spurred by commodity export profits and high oil prices, Latin American states have poured billions of dollars into weaponry purchase programs. Some nations, including oil-rich Venezuela, have borrowed more from arms suppliers such as Russia but have not divulged details of the transactions.

A $2.2 billion deal Russia secured in Venezuela will enable President Hugo Chavez to acquire tanks and armored vehicles on credit. The Venezuelan opposition has criticized the deal.

SIPRI further said that although some details of the deal emerged, including agreement on supply of a new air defense system, details remain patchy. Venezuela's armor purchase from Russia includes 92 T-72MIM Russian tanks. (With Inputs from Agencies)