Sorry, duplicate post. Brazil to Adopt Rapid Strike Force as New Military Model

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil to Adopt Rapid Strike Force as New Military Model
Written by Newsroom
Monday, 04 August 2008

The Brazilian government neither intends nor is it planning a massive troop build-up along its northern borders but wants a well-equipped rapid strike force to dissuade foreign intrusions, a senior government official said this weekend.

Brazil's President. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, signed a decree last month to permanently deploy army troops on Indian reservations along its borders in response to concerns over possible incursions by guerrilla fighters, drug traffickers and others.

Brazil has borders with all South American countries with the exception of Chile and Ecuador. The "hot" areas are in the Amazon, along the borders from south to north, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and the three Guyana.

Brazil next month is expected to present a new long-term strategic defense plan that will shift the armed forces' defense priorities away from its southern borders to the Amazon region, its long Atlantic coast and its air space.

But Roberto Mangabeira Unger, minister for strategic issues and co-author of the plan, said in an interview that this realignment should not concern its neighbors in the Amazon, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.

More:
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/9712 /