Brazil Plans to Invest in Latest Military Technology (Update1)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... in_america
By Heloiza Canassa and Andre Soliani
April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil will boost investments in the latest military technology to strengthen its armed forces, said Strategic Matters Minister Mangabeira Unger.
Latin America's biggest economy will buy the newest generation of jet fighters for the Air Force and build a nuclear submarine for the Navy, Unger told reporters today in Brasilia at a joint news conference with Defense Minister Nelson Jobim.
Brazil's defense buildup comes amid a military spending spree in South America. Colombia is buying 24 Israeli Kfir fighter jets. Ecuador will boost military spending 19 percent this year. Venezuela has signed deals for $4.4 billion in arms purchases including 24 Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and 38 combat and transport helicopters.
``Brazil doesn't face threats from any country, but we need to be prepared,'' Jobim told reporters.
Unger said Brazil's main military concern is the Amazon, where the country borders Venezuela, Colombia and Peru.
The region's importance for Brazil was heightened by recent disclosures that guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are operating across the border in Venezuela and Ecuador, said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy research group in Washington. A Colombian attack on a FARC base in Ecuador in March sent tensions soaring between the two countries and Venezuela, Ecuador's ally.
`Flare Up'
``The flare up in the Andes helped Brazil recognize that they aren't as well-positioned in the Amazon as they probably want to be,'' Hakim said by phone.
Jobim said the Defense Ministry is considering the purchase of jet fighters such as the French-made Rafale or U.S- made Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F35.
The country is also seeking an international partnership to help build a nuclear submarine. Brazil has started negotiations with the U.S., France, India, Russia and the U.K.
Brazil also will seek support from its neighbors to create a South American Defense Council to help coordinate the countries' military strategies, Jobim said.
He will visit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez next week to discuss setting up the council, then travel to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The Brazilian initiative follows Venezuela and Ecuador's dispatch of troops to the Colombian border after the cross- border raid killed 26 people.
The FARC would be met ``with bullets'' should they cross into Brazilian territory, Jobim said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heloiza Canassa in Sao Paulo at
hcanassa@bloomberg.net; Andre Soliani in Sao Paulo at at
asoliani@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 9, 2008 19:16 EDT
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