The Armed Forces of Brazil are capable of handling the threat of foreign military occupation in the Amazon. Nevertheless, they remain “in need of reoutfitting.”
“We in the Ministry of Defense consider our forces adequate to defend the Amazon region in a regional conflict. In the case of a threat from a superior power, we shall be compelled to adopt a strategy that the army has been training very effectively, called the strategy of resistance,” said the secretary of Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs of Brazil’s Ministry of Defense, Fleet Admiral Miguel í‚ngelo Davena.
The admiral affirmed that the “fleet” (the panoply of Armed Forces equipment) currently assigned to the region is not up to this task but that the problem can be corrected by transferring vehicles and vessels from other regions of the country.
“I believe that it is common knowledge to all Brazilians that our forces need to be reoutfitted,” the admiral observed.
The admiral made these declarations in response to questions by lawmakers and in electronic mail sent by viewers of the TV Senate’s coverage of the public hearing “The Internationalization of the Amazon: Real Risk or Imaginary Fear,” held by the Senate Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil