January 28, 2010:  Colombia is selling 450 Galil assault rifles to Paraguay, for $1,245 each. Colombia has been at war with leftist rebels and drug gangs for decades, and the Colombians go with what works, at the lowest price. Thus they build, under license, the Israeli Galil assault rifles (similar to M-16s). Paraguay wanted to buy local, from someone who used what they sold. Thus we have Colombia selling locally made Israeli assault rifles.

The Galil was designed in the 1960s, and introduced in the 1970s. It was based on the Finnish RK62, which is, in turn, based on the Russian AK-47. The Galil is robust, like the AK-47, but uses the smaller 5.56mm round. The Galil was optimized for use in arid climates, but has served quite well in tropical Colombia. Six years ago, Israel began replacing its Galils with the more compact Tavor.