Peru Sought Closer US Ties With F-16 Jet Deal Now in Limbo

Peruvian officials seeking to buy a slate of new fighter jets concluded that buying aircraft made by Lockheed Martin Corp. would be in the nation’s best interest based on price and on the hope that the US would become a major defense ally.

Yet the deal, worth up to $3.5 billion for 24 F-16 fighter jets, is at risk of falling through after Interim Peruvian President Jose Maria Balcazar indefinitely postponed a contract signing scheduled for last Friday, canceling the ceremony hours before it started. He said instead that any decision on the matter should fall to a new administration ...