Despite the resistance shown by Brazil, the defense ministers of the countries of the Americas approved this Thursday (28) a document in which they repudiate Russian attacks against Ukraine. The text, entitled Brasilia Declaration, was signed by 21 countries at the close of the 15th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas.
“The conflicts present around the world, such as the invasion of Ukraine and the acts of violence carried out by armed groups that terrorize the population in Haiti, are not the legitimate means to resolve disputes, so that the Member States of the CMDA ( Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas) hope for a peaceful solution as soon as possible,” reads the second paragraph of the statement.
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico presented reservations to the declaration. The first two for considering that the UN is the “forum with an adequate mandate to deal with the conflict in Ukraine”; the Mexican Defense Ministry, in turn, said that the passage “does not correspond to the scope of the CMDA, since, based on the compatibility of Mexico’s foreign policy principles, it is not possible to adhere to its knowledge”.
Brazil’s position was already expected, since, in a draft statement sent before the event, the country’s authorities had not included any repudiation of the Russian invasion. In previous meetings, representatives of the Ministry of Defense stated that the issue should not be addressed within the scope of the conference, citing international organizations “more appropriate for dealing with matters related to this conflict”.
The reservation follows the decision of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the Itamaraty to keep the country in a position seen as neutral during the war – which led to recent criticism from Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky. In the understanding of the Planalto, the positioning reduces possible commercial crises, since Brazil depends on fertilizers imported from Russia.
The defense for the Brasilia Declaration to include a repudiation of Russia was made by the Canadian Defense Minister, Anita Anand. On Wednesday morning (27), before the bilateral meetings, she told Sheet that he would make an effort in the meeting with the other ministers to convince them.
“We’ll talk and see how the position goes. I think it will be smooth.”
In a note, the Ministry of Defense told Sheet that “Brazil already has a firm position in international forums, through its diplomacy, as in the UN Security Council” on the war.
The Brasilia Declaration also included discussions on two topics relevant to the US. The American authorities managed to convince the other countries to withdraw from the text a request for the member countries of the OAS (Organization of American States) to support “greater budgetary contributions” to the Inter-American Defense Board.
The IADB is an international military organization that provides technical defense advice to countries in the American hemisphere.
Defense ministers also discussed a suggestion by the working group on cyber defense for the countries of the Americas to improve their legislation on the subject.
The group, chaired by Colombia, concluded that one of the main challenges to cyber defense and cybersecurity is the use of fake profiles on social networks.
Brazil did not defend the inclusion of the passage in the Declaration of Brasilia and preferred to leave the suggestion only in the conclusions of the working group, taking away weight from the suggestion, according to two military sources heard by the Sheet.
The 15th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas began on Monday (25), in BrasÃlia, and officially ends this Thursday, with the signing of the declaration. During the four days of the event, Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira participated in ten bilateral meetings.
In the main one, on Wednesday (27), US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the general that the Joe Biden government expects Brazil to hold fair and transparent elections this year. In the meeting, which lasted about 40 minutes, Austin spoke quickly about the lawsuit, according to three sources heard by the Sheet with knowledge of what was discussed.
The statement was understood by the Brazilian side as an attempt by Washington to reaffirm that it has been following with concern Bolsonaro’s coup-led rhetoric, which involves questioning the electoral system and attacks on electronic voting machines.
According to reports, Nogueira defended the work of the Armed Forces with the TSE, recalled that they were invited to participate in the process and said that the military has worked to ensure that the election is free and transparent.
At the top of the Armed Forces, the assessment is that the institution’s involvement in the electoral process was politicized by both Bolsonaro and the opposition. Defense has argued that electronic voting machines are not safe against internal threats and suggests improving integrity tests — this work is used by the president to attack TSE ministers and question the outcome of elections.
The day before the bilateral meeting, Austin defended, in the opening speech of the event, that the Armed Forces of the countries of America must be under “firm civilian control”.
