Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0014/00143.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00143}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Brazil
Chapter 5A.   National Security}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Eugene K. Keefe}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{military
forces
army
brazil
armed
brazilian
national
security
war
general
see
pictures
see
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}
$Date{1982}
$Log{See Military Vehicle*0014301.scf
}
Title:       Brazil
Book:        Brazil, A Country Study
Author:      Eugene K. Keefe
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 5A.   National Security

[See Military Vehicle: Brazilian-built multipurpose vehicle mounting antitank
missiles]

     Brazil at the end of 1982 was neither beset by enemies from outside its
borders nor unduly threatened by subversive elements from within. Joao
Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo was the fifth successive military president
since the ouster of Joao Goulart in 1964. The most serious threat to the
stability of the regime in 1982 seemed to come from disgruntled factions of
the president's own party and from within the military rather than from
leftist groups that have consistently opposed military rule. Figueiredo since
taking office has backed the program of abertura (literally, opening) that
promises to return the country to democratic processes, and it was this
program that drew the wrath of the military hard-liners who favored rigid
authoritarianism.

     Figueiredo seemed an unlikely champion of democratization when picked by
President Ernesto Geisel to be his successor. Not well known outside Brazilian
army circles, he was the chief of the National Intelligence Service under
Geisel. The son of an army general, Figueiredo began his military career as a
teenager, finished first in his class at the Military Academy, then progressed
steadily through officer ranks until reaching the four star general level. His
career could be considered routine only if compared to the careers of other
high achievers. The Brazilian army officer is expected to complete a series of
demanding courses at military educational institutions and, for those who
would become generals, high standing in every class is mandatory. Figueiredo
measured up to the tough standards.

     The new president had first come to the attention of outside observers as
chief of the Military Household and concurrent secretary general of the
National Security Council under President Emilio Garrastazu Medici. Later, as
Geisel's chief of intelligence, Figueiredo was considered a proponent of the
hard line or at least one who leaned in that direction. Many who opposed his
selection as Geisel's successor did so because of the fear that abertura would
be shunted aside and forgotten, but in office he has continued the move toward
democratization to an even greater degree than his predecessor.

     The 18-year (and continuing) rule by the military is out of the ordinary
in the political history of Brazil. The armed forces have in the past often
figured prominently in politics, but usually their stay in the political arena
was of short duration, after which they returned to barracks. That changed in
1964, however, when the military perpetrators of the coup d'etat announced
that they would stay in power as long as they considered their presence
necessary. By 1982 there was some indication of a possible return of the
presidency to civilian hands at the end of Figueiredo's administration in
1985, but there were no guarantees. In the meantime, the armed forces,
provided the principal power base to maintain the military regime.

     As in many other countries where the armed forces have taken control of
the government, the army has been the most prominent of the services in the
political role. The five military presidents have come from the army, and
army officers have been the most prevalent among the military selected for
cabinet positions other than the navy and aeronautics posts. In addition to
the usual governmental ministers, the cabinet also included the chiefs of the
Civilian Household, Military Household, and National Intelligence Service. The
latter two positions have routinely been filled by army generals and, at
times, so also has the Civilian Household. Until 1981 in the Figueiredo
cabinet, for example, that position was held by General Artur Golbery do Couto
e Silva, who had held the same post in the Geisel cabinet and was referred to
by some observers as the eminence grise of the military regime. Golbery had
been considered the foremost proponent of abertura in the cabinet. Out of 16
ministers and five chiefs holding ministerial rank in the cabinet in late
1982, seven were retired or active-duty army generals or colonels, one (navy)
was an admiral, and one (aeronautics) was an air marshal.

     As for the military side of the armed forces in 1982, the army was the
largest, numbering almost 183,000; the navy followed with about 47,000, and
the air force had 43,000. Almost half of the total force (49 percent)
consisted of short-tour conscripts, the overwhelming majority of whom served
in the army. The air force had no conscripts, the navy had about 2,000, and
the army had 132,000 in 1982. The advancing technology of weapons and
equipment has put a burden on the services to recruit, train, and retain
longer term personnel, and the army will no doubt require more regulars as its
weapon systems become more complex. The number of regulars, however, has been
determined by law, and a change would be necessary in order to raise the
quota.

     Until the late 1970s the armed forces had maintained close ties with the
armed forces of the United States over several decades of the twentieth
century. Brazil sent an expeditionary force to fight alongside American troops
in the Italian Campaign of World War II, and for years after that experience
many senior officers from the two armed forces maintained close personal and
professional relationships. The postwar Brazilian forces were also equipped
with American hardware-tanks, ships, and airplanes-which (along with the
combat experience in Italy) led to the adoption of American tactics and
strategies. Many Brazilian officers attended senior service schools in the
United States, and many more received training in the United States-sponsored
School of the Americas in Panama. Frictions between the governments, most
notably those caused by the human rights policy of Jimmy Carter's
administration, interfered with the close military relations, and for a period
in the late 1970s and in 1980 the relationship was in limbo. In 1977 the
Geisel government even canceled the military assistance agreement that had
existed since 1952. Military ties were resumed after President Ronald Reagan
took office in 1981, but under changed circumstances. Brazil was buying major
items of military equipment from various other suppliers and, much more
important, its own armaments industry had mushroomed in the late 1970s to
supply its armed forces as well as to export to countries in all parts of the
world. In renewing the military bonds, the Brazilian leaders indicated that
they expected a partnership rather than a sponsor-client relationship.

     For the nearly two decades that the military has controlled the
government, the leaders have placed extreme emphasis on internal security.
Some observers have said that those leaders have been obsessed with the idea
that major threats from subversion existed. Actually, since the 1969-72
period the security forces have had the situation well in hand, and no serious
threats from organized subversives have been apparent. Responsibility for
internal security ultimately rested with the executive in Brasilia, but there
were many agencies at federal and state levels-seemingly overlapping-that
were involved in national security.

     There has been a close relationship between the military forces,
particularly the army, and the police, but all three armed forces have had
agencies involved in what would usually be considered police activities. The
commanding generals of the four field armies and two independent commands
cover the entire country, and are responsible for internal security within
their jurisdictions. The chief of the federal police force usually has been an
active-duty army general, and each state has maintained a force known as the
Military Police; these are, in effect, auxiliary army forces, the units of
which are frequently commanded by army officers.

Position of Armed Forces in Government and Society

     The Federative Republic of Brazil has been under the control of its armed
forces since March 31, 1964, when Goulart, the last elected civilian
president, was overthrown in a military coup d'etat. Five army officers have
succeeded each other in the presidency without benefit of electoral politics:
Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco-April 15, 1964, to March 15,
1967; General Artur da Costa e Silva-March 15, 1967, to August 30, 1969;
General Medici-October 7, 1969, to March 15, 1974; General Geisel-March
15, 1974; to March 15, 1979; and General Figueirdo, who took office on March
15, 1979, under a 1977 law that provides a six-year term for the president. In
addition to army, navy, and air force officers, civilians have held
ministerial-rank positions in the cabinets of the five army presidents.
Complaints of oppression and lack of democratic freedoms have been heard from
ordinary citizens and opposition politicians under the military regime, but
the volume of such complaints decreased in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

     Criticized by some, particularly during its first decade, as being a
dictatorship and by others as being much too authoritarian, the government
has attempted to reform itself and to change its image in the eyes of its own
citizens as well as in those of its foreign critics. Under Geisel and
Figueiredo a policy known as abertura has been followed, which is intended to
prepare the country for a return to democratic processes and "open" those
processes to the citizens. For example, direct elections to the federal
Congress, as well as to state and municipal offices, were conducted on
November 15, 1982 (see Electoral Politics, ch. 4).

Constitutional Basis

     The Constitution of Brazil, promulgated in 1967 and extensively amended
(particularly in 1969), states that the country "is a federative republic,
constituted-under a representative system-by the indissoluble union of the
states, the Federal District, and the territories." That union (23 states, the
Federal District of Brasilia, and three territories in 1982) is made
constitutionally responsible for national security and for the organizing of
armed forces. The president of the republic has the power to declare war
either when authorized by Congress or without such authorization should
foreign aggression occur when Congress is not in session. The president is
also designated supreme commander of the armed forces and is authorized to
decree mobilization or to declare a state of siege.

     According to the Constitution, every citizen has a responsibility for
national security; the specifics of such civic responsibility are to be
defined in the country's enacted laws. Article 92 of the Constitution states:
"All Brazilians are obligated to military service or other duties necessary to
the national security, under the terms and penalties of the law." The same
article, however, specifically exempted women and the clergy from military
service, adding that they may be called for other kinds of duties.

     The army, navy, and air force are established as "permanent and regular"
national institutions, having defense of the country as their primary mission.
The president, who would be director of a national war effort if that became
necessary, is designated chairman of the National Security Council (Conselho
de Seguranca Nacional-CSN). The Constitution states that the organization,
competence, and functioning of the CSN is to be regulated by law, and the size
of the body may be expanded to include ex officio or special members.

     Some idea of the importance placed on the CSN by the drafters of the
Constitution may be gained from its wording. After stating that the council
"is the organ of the highest level in providing direct advice to the
president of the republic for the formulation and execution of national
security policy," the document goes on to specify powers of the council
including, for example, the power "to establish the permanent national
objectives and the bases for national policy; to study, in the domestic and
foreign spheres, the matters of importance to national security; and to
indicate the areas that are indispensable to the national security and
the municipalities considered to be important to it." The council is further
empowered to give prior consent in those indispensable areas for "concession
of lands, opening transportation routes, and installation of means of
communication; construction of bridges, international roads, and airfields;
and establishment or operation of any industry affecting the national
security" (see Administration, Organization, and Training, this ch.).

     Soldiers below the rank of noncommissioned officer (NCO) and sailors and
airmen of like rank are constitutionally denied the rights of registration and
voting, which are referred to as "obligatory" for most other Brazilians over
18 years of age. Being denied the right to register, the lower enlisted ranks
consequently are denied the privilege of becoming candidates for elective
office, a privilege guaranteed to other members of the armed forces. If a
member who has less than five years' service becomes a candidate for office,
he must be discharged. A member with more than five years' service is
temporarily suspended from active duty during a political campaign but, if
elected, must be transferred to reserve status as provided by law.

Military Traditions

     The armed forces trace their origins to the sixteenth-century defense of
colonial Brazil against constant French incursions along the coast of the vast
Portuguese colony. The officers and men under arms in the early days, fighting
the French or local Indians when necessary, were primarily from the home
country and had been sent out as defense forces for the colonists. These
forces were more than a match for the Indians who tried to fight the newcomers
to avoid being enslaved, and they also proved capable of driving out the
French who had tried to establish colonies in various places along the coast,
as had a few English settlers who met the same fate as the French.

     A more serious threat to Portuguese hegemony in Brazil came during the
period 1580 to 1640, when Spanish kings ruled the entire Iberian Peninsula.
The Dutch, during their long struggle for independence from the Spanish
Habsburgs, had seized territory in Brazil as a blow against Spain. When the
Portuguese regained control of Portugal, they made peace with the Dutch and
did not insist that the latter withdraw from Brazil. The Brazilians, however,
refused to accept the idea of permanent Dutch settlements and formed their own
armed forces to end the Dutch occupation of the area around Recife (see fig.
1). A sense of Brazilian nationalism stemmed from the final victories over the
Dutch in 1654. The success of the purely Brazilian effort had a strong local
and historical impact. The military force known as Terco de Ordenancas (Third
Command), which was left in Bahia by Dom Fradique de Toledo Osorio during the
campaign to expel the Dutch, may be considered the original unit of the
Brazilian army.

     For about the first three decades after Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on
the coast of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese had been satisfied merely to
establish trading posts in the newly discovered lands, but they then decided
that much more extensive colonization would be necessary if they were to
prevent the European encroachment that had already started. In addition to
sending some Portuguese armed forces for the defense of the colonists, Dom
Joao III designated 14 captaincies (see Glossary) in his Brazilian territories
and granted far-reaching powers to the colonial authorities. The Portuguese
nobles who were made lords-proprietor of these immense land grants were
responsible for defending the lands against foreign incursion, Indian attack,
or slave uprising. Although most of the original captaincies failed
economically, the private plantation defense forces, which provided the
homegrown troops that drove out the Dutch, later became a tradition and formed
nuclei of militias when Brazil secured independence early in the nineteenth
century.

     Since the achievement of independence in 1822, the country has been
involved in five international conflicts. The first of two wars against
Argentina was fought over territory along the Rio de la Plata that both
countries claimed. The fighting was inconclusive, but negotiations in 1828
resulted in the establishment of Uruguay as an independent republic on the
disputed land (see The Emperor's Troubles, ch. 1). Trouble in the same general
area in the early 1850s led to the ouster of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de
Rosas at the hands of combined Brazilian, Uruguayan, and dissident Argentine
forces. Brazil and Argentina have remained at peace since that time. In the
next war, during the 1860s, Brazil and Argentina were joined by the Brazilian
puppet government of Uruguay in the so-called Triple Alliance against
Paraguay. The conflict proved to be long and costly, almost destroying
Paraguay but also financially exhausting the alliance partners in the process.
Brazil also suffered heavy casualties. The length of the war, number of
casualties, and the idea in the minds of some officers that the armed forces
had not been properly supported by the rest of the society led to a new
military mystique that stayed with the military through succeeding generations
and continued to affect the governing of the country in the 1980s. The
mystique led to the belief by army officers that the military had not only the
right but even the duty to intercede when civilian governments appeared to be
consistently faltering. This concept, that is, the army as guarantor of
constitutional powers, has been incorporated in all Brazilian constitutions
since the late nineteenth century.

     The next international conflict in which Brazil became involved was World
War I, but that involvement did not include sending troops to Europe. In the
early years of the war, the Brazilian authorities had been intent on
maintaining strict neutrality; full diplomatic relations were continued with
the Central powers. Pro-Allies sentiment was strong among the people, however,
and by 1917 when German U-boats began torpedoing Brazilian freighters,
diplomatic relations were broken, and a state of war was declared.
Participation in the war was largely limited to naval patrols in the South
Atlantic but, as a belligerent, Brazil was represented at the Versailles peace
conference, thereby securing a measure of prestige as well as a share of
German reparations.

     At the outbreak of World War II Brazil was again quick to announce its
neutrality, and the government-officially at least-held aloof from any action
that seemed to favor either side. Germany had become an important trading
partner during the 1930s and, because the United States was also neutral,
Brazil did not feel uncomfortable in that category. It did, however, support
the anti-Axis resolution of the Pan-American foreign ministers meeting in Rio
de Janeiro in 1942. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Brazil
broke diplomatic and trade relations with the Axis powers. In the summer of
1942 a rash of U-boat sinkings of Brazilian freighters led to the abandonment
of neutrality in favor of participation in the European war on the side of the
Allies.

     The Brazilian contribution to the war effort was considerably greater
than it had been during World War I. The United States, for example, was
permitted to establish air and naval bases in the Northeast, and American
forces were allowed to use Natal in Rio Grande do Norte as a staging area for
transit to Africa. The islands of Fernando de Noronha were made available to
Allied forces as a base of operations for patrolling South Atlantic
sea-lanes, and the Brazilian navy joined other Allied navies in antisubmarine
defense, providing corvettes and destroyers for Atlantic patrols and for
convoy escort duty.

     In contrast to other Latin American countries, Brazil dispatched troop
units to Europe to participate in combat. The Brazilian Expeditionary Force
(Forca Expedicionaria Brasileira-FEB), the first Latin American military
organization in history to participate in combat in Europe, was about 25,000
strong when it arrived in Italy in June 1944 to become part of the American
Fifth Army under command of General Mark Clark. The FEB's principal combat
unit, an infantry division, was committed to combat in September and remained
in almost continuous action for over 200 days, winning high praise from Allied
leaders. After the war a memorial statue of three servicemen was erected in
the Parque do Flamengo on the Rio de Janeiro waterfront to honor the more
than 400 servicemen who lost their lives during the conflict.

     Although Brazilian armed forces have not engaged in combat since 1945,
the country sent units to Suez in 1956, to the Congo (present-day Zaire) in
1960, and to the Dominican Republic in 1965. The first two instances were in
response to United Nations (UN) requests for multinational peacekeeping
forces, and the third was in answer to a similar call from the Organization
of American States (OAS) after President Lyndon B. Johnson had sent the United
States Marines to intervene in Santo Domingo. Brazil complied by sending the
largest contingent of troops, and a Brazilian general, Hugo Penasco Alvim,
accepted command of the OAS force.

     Since 1965 there have been no occasions for deployment of Brazilian
troops outside the country. In the interim, the armed forces have been
spotlighted in national affairs because of the successive military
governments, and under those governments the forces have been more involved in
domestic affairs than ever before. Part of the constitutional mission of the
armed forces is to guarantee "law and order," and regular units have been
employed frequently in roles that could be considered more appropriate to
police than to military.