"A nuclear weapon used as dissuasive instrument is of great significance for a country that has 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of borders in the west and has a territorial sea and, now, there's this pre-salt sea with an area of 4 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles)," said Alencar.
All the recent oil findings by Brazil should be reason for caution, he argues: "This stirs international greed. Now everything is all right, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring. It costs a lot, but readiness is costly."
Alencar, who is the acting president while president Lula is in the United States for several commitments, including taking part in the Pittsburgh G20 summit, reminded the case of Pakistan, which is part of several international organisms not because is a big country, but because it has the A bomb.Â
For Alencar, India and Pakistan, although living in conflict, don't go to war against each other and prefer to sit down and negotiate because both possess nuclear weapons.
"We, Brazilian, sometimes are too laid-back," said the Brazilian vice-president. "We master the nuclear energy technology, but nobody here has the drive to advance in this field. We have to go forward in this matter".
According to Alencar, Brazil would use its nukes only for peaceful purposes, only to protect the country from international attacks. "We have to waken up to the idea that Brazil needs to advance in this field to become a really strong country."
During his talk to reporters in his cabinet in Brazilian capital Brasília, Alencar, who once was Defense minister, also defended the allocation of more resources to the Armed Forces. He wants the defense budget to be linked to the country's GDP. "We need a GDP percentage between 3% and 5%, which would give much might to the defense's system that needs care and has been abandoned for ages."
The acting president stressed that he is a pacifist and that his opinion about the need for the A-bomb is given as a common citizen and not as the second in line of succession.
Alencar added that he was not saying what Brazil is going to do and what road the country will take: "I'm not saying that Brazil is going to do this or not and I don't even want to say if I want this or not. I'm making an analysis as a Brazilian. The country's reputability would grow a lot. We have that saying "might is right and justice is the power of the strongest," he continued.
It's not the first time that Alencar defends development of nuclear weapons. He is not the only Lula aide to have such thoughts either. A few years back, then Science and Technology minister Roberto Amaral, declared:
"We are against nuclear proliferation, we are signatories of the nonproliferation treaty signatories, but we cannot renounce the scientific knowledge."