Beijing’s and Moscow’s naval assertiveness, particularly in Syria and the South and East China seas, attracts most of the attention. But India is building a second aircraft carrier, and may have three by 2020, along with four nuclear-powered submarines and various other modern ships. In 2012, India dispatched warships to the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the western Mediterranean. And in 2008 and 2010, India and Brazil conducted joint naval operations with South Africa on the Indian Ocean side of Africa.
In November 2012, some 10,000 Brazilian sailors and soldiers conducted an exercise called “Operation Atlantico 3,” meant to demonstrate the country’s ability to defend its offshore oilfields.
The BRIC countries are becoming the world’s new global navy – Quartz
Category Archives: Brazil
The BRIC countries are becoming the world’s new global navy – Quartz
Atlantis Discovered? – The Daily Beast
This week, a joint Brazilian-Japanese research team broke its long silence, officially unveiling its find with a head-turning and slightly mischievous teaser: Could this be a “Brazilian Atlantis?”
“Today we believe we may have found vestiges of an unknown continent,” Roberto Ventura Santos, head of the Brazilian Geological Service, told The Daily Beast. The evidence? Not gold but granite. “We expected to find volcanic rock and debris, typical of a seabed, not granite. Granite is typically found on the continental shelf.”
And yet, as Santos pointed out, this was 1,800 miles from the Brazilian shore, where the water is 5,900 feet deep.
The Bully from Brazil | Foreign Policy
South America’s superpower is shoving its weight around across the continent — and the natives aren’t exactly thrilled.
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Also, there’s the question of power dynamics between the goliath and its neighbors. “Brazil has nearly all the power, and the rest of the countries have much less,” says the source close to IIRSA negotiations. Conservation International’s Killeen agrees that the chances of a small country like Uruguay or Suriname blocking one of the major IIRSA projects are “none whatsoever.” Indeed, a former high-level official inside Bolivia’s Foreign Relations Ministry said that years ago, Bolivia had considered publicly opposing the mammoth Santo Antonio and Jirau hydroelectric complex currently being constructed in Brazil on the Madeira River it shares with Bolivia, just 100 miles from the Bolivian border, on the grounds that environmental impact studies said the dams may flood a huge tract of northern Bolivia. When the issue was raised in private talks with Brasilia, she said, “We were basically told: Keep your mouths shut about the dams or we will cut off diplomatic relations.”
The Bully from Brazil – By Jean Friedman-Rudovsky | Foreign Policy
Brazil wants to help build roads and dams to more integrate the South American continent. Nothing wrong with that. Except the roads are bigger than some people would like in order to accomodate Brazilian commercial interests. Also, the environmental impact of some of these projects seems to be less of a concern which angers the locals directly affected.
The Falklands’ new boss
Imagine, for a moment, the Admiralty’s nightmare scenario: in the not-too-distant future, a nearly bankrupt Argentine government invades the oil-rich Falkland Islands. For the second time in half a century, Las Malvinas—the islands of Latin America regarded as a stolen piece of Argentina—spark a war meant to divert public attention from the Argentine government’s economic failings.
With twenty-first century budget cuts biting hard, Britain has no aircraft carrier. Argentina retired its own carrier in the late 1960s. Yet, unlike 1982, when Margaret Thatcher dispatched a flotilla to retake the islands, this time the South Atlantic is anything but empty. It’s home to a Brazilian carrier, the São Paulo, along with a fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines being built in partnership with Argentina.
In effect, these weapons give Brazil the ability to impose an updated version of the Monroe Doctrine on regional waters. Call it the “Lula Doctrine.”
With its new confidence and military ambition, Brazil is a vocal advocate of Argentina’s claim on Las Malvinas. While few can imagine Britain and Brazil ever coming to blows, signs of a very different reality for Britain are starting to take shape.
There is no such thing as a peace dividend from gutting the military. It is only that the price may be delayed. For Britain, a small part of that price may be coming due.
Panetta: Brazil is emerging global power | Fox News
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised Brazil’s emergence as a global power Wednesday, urging the nation to become more involved in security efforts around the world by assisting in places like Africa.
“We welcome Brazil’s growing strength. We support Brazil as a global leader, and seek closer defense cooperation, because we believe that a stronger and more globally engaged Brazil will help enhance international security,” Panetta said in a speech to Brazil’s Superior War College. “With our deepening partnership, Brazil’s strength is more than ever our strength.”
China Finds An Ally In Brazil – Forbes
Is China really the economic pariah that it is being made out to be? Fernando Pimentel, Brazil’s Minister for Trade and Industry, is at least one person who doesn’t think so. Instead, Pimentel believes that the problems with the global economy lie with the economic policies being pursued by the United States and the European Union.
Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet this week in New Delhi, India for the annual BRICS conference. In advance of this year’s summit, Pimentel had a number of interesting things to say.
Brazil Economy Stalls as Rousseff Boosts GDP Amid Euro Crisis – Businessweek
Brazil’s growth may have stalled in the third quarter, a sign that the world’s second-largest emerging economy lost momentum even before the government acted to contain the spillover from Europe’s debt crisis.
Gross domestic product failed to grow from the previous three months for the first time since 2008, …
As Europe’s crisis deepens, President Dilma Rousseff’s government is taking steps to reinvigorate the economy with a mix of tax cuts, interest rate reductions and looser bank lending requirements. …
“The stimulus will prevent the economy from decelerating too drastically, but it won’t drive fast economic growth like Mantega wants,” said Enestor Dos Santos, senior Brazil economist for BBVA in Madrid, who forecasts 3.6 percent for 2012. As the global environment deteriorates, “five percent growth isn’t feasible.”
Brazil Economy Stalls as Rousseff Boosts GDP Amid Euro Crisis – Businessweek
Taking Back Brazil’s Favelas: Rio Relying on Dubious Methods to Pacify its Slums – SPIEGEL ONLINE
Chevron’s Oil Spill Off Brazil Could Be 10 Times Bigger Than Official Estimates
We’ve been tracking the oil spill reported off Brazil a few days ago, in the Frade field operated by Chevron in the Campos Basin, Brazil’s most productive area of offshore production, and a place where many deepwater technology milestones have been made for offshore oil production.
Chevron claimed the oil slick was being caused by a natural oil seep on the seafloor, but they suspended drilling on a well in the field. Brazilian authorities quickly disputed that a natural seep was the cause. And yesterday Chevron admitted the possibility that something went wrong at their drillsite.
Chevron’s Oil Spill Off Brazil Could Be 10 Times Bigger Than Official Estimates
