Brazil Wants United Defense in South America and Offers to Be Peacemaker

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim The Brazilian government will propose the creation of a South American Defense Board which would enable the region "to think in the common future, of a very rich region that must be well defended," said Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim.

The announcement was made Sunday, December 2, in São Paulo, in the Brazilian southeast, and the proposal is to be presented in the third presidential summit of the South American Union scheduled to take place in Colombia.

Talking with foreign correspondents Amorim said that Brazil is not paranoiac about an attack on the region, "but we must defend the region in the most coordinated possible way."

"We already have an Inter American Defense Board, why not then a South American Defense Board," underlined Amorim.

The objective is "to increase the exchange of experiences, improve collaboration and joint training" of South American Armed Forces.

"We're not talking of a joint command and it's basically targeted to help unbind conflicting knots and regional mistrusts," he added pointing to the fact that the "geo-strategic stance it confronts, whether we admit them or not, are the old continental concepts emanating from United States."

More specifically on Venezuela Amorim said the Brazilian policy is, "no matter what happens in Caracas, it's easier for Mercosur to influence Venezuela than Venezuela to influence Mercosur."

Amorim also added that Brazil was open, if requested "to contribute to undo the recent misunderstandings between presidents Chavez and Uribe."

"We're not judging any side, but it's evident misunderstandings exist," he said revealing that on his way back to Brazil he stopped in Colombia to chat with his Colombian counterpart Fernando Araújo.

"I tried the same with Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro but he was out of the country, so I'll call him after the referendum."

Amorim said that "discreetly" Brazil will try to bring both countries closer and recalled that three years ago Uribe and Chavez also went through a spat of mutual accusations.

Mercopress

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Says Solution for Global Crisis Is Free Trade and Competition

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, is urging leading economies to ...

Decision in Second Round, says headline

Brazil’s Lula Pays the Penalty for Complacency

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s failure to win the election in the first ...

Brazil Finally Signs World Agreement on Sustainable Fishing

The Brazilian government openly backed the Compliance Agreement of the United Nation's (UN) Food ...

Brazil’s Pernambuco State Gets a 77% Jump in Exports

The government of the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco is celebrating the record performance ...

Brazilian and Arabs Exchange Biotecnology Information

The semiarid climate is one of the main themes of the Summit of South ...

Brazil’s Tough Talk Bends US on Cotton Subsidies

The United States Congress approved this week scrapping subsidies to the cotton industry and ...

To Brazil and LatAm Obama Vows to Be Partner Not Savior

US presidential candidate Barack Obama is proposing a drastic change in US policy towards ...

The Alley’s Vampire

Pretty thing are you, I thought cynically, coveting the gorgeous young fascist and his ...

Brazilian Cattle Ranchers Destroying Indians Habitat in Paraguay

In the Paraguayan side of the border between Brazil and Paraguay, the last uncontacted Indians ...

Brazilian Culture: A State-Funded Bordello

Brazil’s culture gigolos managed to revoke the reactionary law of supply and demand and ...