Things are such in the world today that Brazil, the largest country in South America, believes it must prepare for a possible military attack from a major power. Celso Amorim, Brazil’s former Foreign Minister and Defense Minister, now Special Foreign Policy Advisor to President Lula da Silva, argues that Brazil must develop a deterrent capability sufficiently strong to hold off any such military action against it.
In a May 29 interview given to Brasil de Fato while he was in Moscow for the International Security Conference, Amorim explained that “we are already living through a world war of sorts. Not a world war in the traditional sense, with all conventional forces fully engaged, but there is no region that remains untouched. Not even Latin America, which is normally so tranquil. There was an invasion of Venezuela. And no one knows what will happen in Cuba….
“Brazil must defend its sovereignty. We cannot simply look on and say: ‘Oh, nothing like that will ever happen to us, because Brazil is a peaceful country.’ That is no guarantee. I served as Defense Minister. When the day comes—and one never wishes to single out any particular country—we must have deterrence capability.”
Brasil de Fato asked if it is time for Brazil to discuss nuclear weapons – a topic which has come up with increasing frequency in Brazil in recent months. Amorim replied: “Brazil enshrined the prohibition of nuclear weapons in its Constitution. And I believe that today—while no one denies the importance of nuclear deterrence—there are significant non-nuclear means of deterrence that Brazil can and should develop.”
