Brazil military drills prepare soldiers for invasions
Brazil military drills prepare soldiers for invasions
November 8, 2014 10:33 PM
Simon Romero / The New York Times
MANAUS, Brazil Brazils army is deploying troops this month to the far reaches of the Amazon in a military exercise simulating a foreign invasion of the rain forest, focusing attention on sensitivity over sovereignty in a region rising in importance as a strategic pillar of Latin Americas largest economy.
The troop mobilization, starting Monday and called Operation Machifaro, points to a deepening of a central element of military doctrine in Brazil, which holds the defense of the Amazon as a top priority. The Amazons mineral wealth and vast reserves of fresh water place the region in the context of potential threats, military officials here said in a statement.
The operation will provide ways for optimizing a strategy of resistance in the region, said Gen. Guilherme Cals Theophilo Gaspar de Oliveira, chief of Brazils Amazon Military Command. He also emphasized that the exercise was aiming to consolidate a doctrine of jungle combat.
The drill aims to prepare soldiers to respond to a foreign military force larger than Brazils armed forces, officials said. While Brazil has long been at peace with its smaller neighbors in the Amazon and no country was specified by name in the preparations for the exercise, some military strategists in Brazil have long focused on the United States as a potential threat.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2014/11/09/Brazil-military-drills-prepare-soldiers-for-invasions/stories/201411090191