The protests broke out especially in Rio. Since March, many soldiers have been deployed in the favelas of Maré where drug traffickers lurk and where people living in extreme poverty live.
But the Brazilian defense is concerned above all with the security of its energy resources more than with human ones. Since the first offshore oil extraction platforms were developed, Petrobras, the most important South American oil company, has come a long way. In the 2010 it was the third world oil company. Today the business plan provides in detail that oil and gas production will move from 2,32 million barrels in the 2013 to 3,9 million in the 2018 and 5,2 million in the 2020. To protect offshore oil production, Brazil has resorted to weapons.
Military cooperation with France is certainly among the most important. The ProSub project, program of the Brazilian navy for the development and realization of 4 S-BR nuclear submarines with the aid of French technology, launched in 2008, represents for Brazil a pride to be proud of. Under the agreement, France transfers the technological know-how to the 30 Brazilian industries involved in the production of 36.000 components useful for the construction of submarines. Spending of around 7,8 billion real, equivalent to about 3,8 billion, has created new jobs. The new ships will be used to patrol the military border of Brazil, whose length is 8500 km and above all to protect the underwater oil fields.
Furthermore, six nuclear submarines and nineteen conventional submarines are expected to be launched within the 2048. The project will allow the simultaneous construction of two submarines that will be delivered, one every year and a half, starting with the 2017. A true naval base along the Rio coast, right there in Rio where the 29 December 1763 viceroy Antônio Álvares da Cunha, first count of Cunha, decided to repair the ships of the Portuguese Navy giving life to Arsenal do Rio de Janeiro . With the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in the 1808, the Arsenal began to be designated as the Royal Arsenal by Marinha or simply as Arsenal da Corte. In the 1820 he began to expand to the Ilha das Cobras. After the independence of Brazil, faced with the need to organize and manage a marina, the Arsenal has become a priority.
Roberto Colella
(photo: Ministério da Defesa, Brasil)
