Defense policy and strategy update calls for fixed resources for the sector
China’s presence in South America, a frequent concern of the United States, has officially entered Brazilian military radar. The risk of armed confrontation in the region, too.
The update of the sister texts PDN (National Defense Policy) and END (National Defense Strategy), which will be sent to Congress on the 22nd, shows special concern with the so-called “exotic actors” on the continent.
The Chinese have already put, according to the account of the Southern Command of the US Armed Forces, US $ 180 billion (R $ 964 billion) in infrastructure programs of countries in the region – many in the south of the continent. They joined the strategic Chinese program Belt and Route Initiative 25 of the 31 Latin American nations.
According to the commander, Admiral Craig Faller, China has opened an “economic trap” for the impoverished countries of Latin America.
As in previous versions, the Amazon is treated as a target of external greed. A preliminary document on defense scenarios until 2040, which Folha revealed in February, showed that France was seen as the greatest strategic threat to the country.
The European country is at the forefront of criticism of the environmental policy of the Jair Bolsonaro government and is making a physical border through French Guiana with the region – which does not make it an “exotic actor”. Paris diplomacy considered the possibility of delusional confrontation.
As a State document, the PND / END pair does not name threats, it only presents objectives and how to reach them with the available resources, which are inventoried in a third document being updated, the White Paper on National Defense.
The first PND is from 1996, and had three updates until 2016. END had editions in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The White Paper will have its first revision since 2012.
Read more in Folha de S. Paulo
