Word: atacama
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...experimenting with fuel-air explosive bombs, which release and then detonate a vapor cloud of fuel. The F.A.E. has been called the "poor man's atom bomb" because of the powerful explosion it generates. After it became known that Cardoen had helped arrange an F.A.E. test in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile three months ago, protesters in Bolivia, Peru and Argentina charged that Chile's production of such a terrifying weapon could set off a regional arms race...
Where is the Atacama Desert...
...Atacama Desert in North Chile is approximately 400 miles long and has an elevation of 7000 to 13,500 feet...
Rich Deposits. The issue inflaming the Chilean and Peruvian nationalism, which is pulling the two countries to the brink of war, is possession of the Atacama Desert's rich deposits of copper, silver and nitrates. Peru lost the land to Chile during the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). Since then, Peruvian leaders occasionally have talked about regaining the lost territory, hinting that this would be accomplished by the war's centenary-now only two years away...
Armed Conflict. If war broke out, Peru's armor and modern planes would probably blitz about 35 miles into the Atacama. But the Chileans, regarded by some military men as the better fighters and tacticians, might be able to regroup and eventually push back the Peruvians. An armed conflict, if it did occur, would not only take a bloody toll of the participants but could also tempt other countries on the continent into similar action. Potentially volatile territorial disputes, for example, simmer between Venezuela and both Guyana and Colombia, and also between Peru and Ecuador...