Brazil minister advocates more funds for Armed Forces

Brazil’s Defense Minister General Paulo Sergio Nogueira de Oliveira asked the Brazilian Congress on Tuesday (Jul 6) to support the gradual expansion of funding for the Armed Forces.

The topic was discussed during a six-hour hearing with the lower house Committee for Foreign Affairs. The session was marked by high expectations over Brazil’s budget law, which sets budgetary guidelines for next year, including predicted revenues and expenditures. The piece of legislation will be voted on by lawmakers soon.

Joined by the commanders of the three forces—the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy—the minister showed a graph indicating that, despite being South America’s top economy, Brazil ranks sixth among the nations in the continent with investments making up the largest bulk of their GDP.

Investment

According to the Minister of Defense, Brazil invests 1.19 percent of its GDP to equip and maintain the Armed Forces. The rate is below the one observed in Colombia (3%), Ecuador (2.4%), Uruguay (2.2%), Chile (1.9%), and Bolivia (1.5%). The data are said be taken from the country’s Office of the Comptroller-General.

“The National Defense Policy is clear in stating that, in order to develop our strategic programs and projects, we must reach two percent of GDP,” said the minister. He went on to list the main “challenges” facing the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy—namely to invest in scientific and technological development as well as training for the military; to further their involvement in international peace and security missions; and to step up surveillance in the Amazon and its borders.

“The Amazon is a strategic priority for national defense. Today, our agents [in the region] number nearly 50 thousand. Since the 90s, the Armed Forces—especially the Army—have practically doubled amount of their agents in the Amazon, and have moved multiple military organizations from the southern and eastern regions in order to increase their presence there,” he added.

The commanders in attendance endorsed the minister’s request and further underscored the need for more resources.