DATE=7/14/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43873
TITLE=BRAZIL/AMAZON SECURITY
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: BRAZIL IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CONCERNED OVER REPORTED
INCURSIONS BY LEFTIST GUERRILLAS FROM OTHER NATIONS INTO ITS
AMAZON TERRITORY, AS WELL AS BY RISING EVIDENCE THAT THESE REBELS
MAY BE WORKING WITH DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN THE REGION. BUT AS VOA'S
BILL RODGERS REPORTS FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, THE BRAZILIAN
GOVERNMENT MAY FIND IT DIFFICULT TO STOP THESE ACTIVITIES.
TEXT: BRAZIL IS WORRIED THAT LEFTIST GUERRILLAS FROM PERU AND
COLOMBIA MAY BE USING ITS TERRITORY IN THE AMAZON BASIN AS A SAFE
HAVEN TO BUY WEAPONS -- AND TO EARN MONEY BY PROTECTING DRUG
TRAFFICKERS OPERATING IN THE REGION. CONCERNS WERE HEIGHTENED
AFTER PERUVIAN PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI RAISED THE ISSUE WITH
HIS BRAZILIAN COUNTERPART, FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO, LATE LAST
MONTH IN RIO DE JANEIRO WHEN BOTH ATTENDED A SUMMIT CONFERENCE OF
LATIN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN LEADERS. ACCORDING TO NEWSPAPER
ACCOUNTS, MR. FUJIMORI WARNED THE BRAZLIAN PRESIDENT THAT PERU'S
SHINING PATH (EDS: SENDERO LUMINOSO) GUERRILLA GROUP IS OPERATING
IN BRAZILIAN TERRITORY.
IN ADDITION TO THE SHINING PATH, THERE ARE ALSO REPORTS THAT
MEMBERS OF COLOMBIA'S REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES, OR FARC AS ITS
KNOWN BY ITS SPANISH ACRONYM, OCCASIONALLY CROSS THE BORDER INTO
BRAZIL. ELEMENTS OF THE FARC WORK CLOSELY WITH COLOMBIAN DRUG
TRAFFICKERS -- AND THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT FEARS THEY MAY BE
EXPANDING THEIR OPERATIONS INTO THE AMAZON BASIN.
BUT STOPPING THESE ACTIVITIES MAY BE DIFFICULT. BRAZILIAN
POLITICAL SCIENTIST WALDER DE GOES POINTS OUT THERE ARE THOUSANDS
OF KILOMETERS OF VIRTUALLY UNINHABITATED RAIN FOREST TO MONITOR.
///DE GOES PORTUGUESE ACT WITH ENG. VOICE-OVER///
(PORTUGUESE) THE FRONTIER IS GIGANTIC, IT'S ENTIRELY
WITHOUT HIGHWAYS, WITHOUT COMMUNICATIONS -- THERE IS NO
CONTROL POSSIBLE. IF YOU ASK SOME PEOPLE THERE WHAT
COUNTRY THEY ARE IN, THEY DON'T KNOW. THERE ARE
THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS OF DENSE JUNGLE AND EVEN RIVERS
THAT HAVE YET TO BE DISCOVERED -- SO THERE IS NO
POSSIBLE WAY TO CONTROL THE REGION. YOU CAN MONITOR IT
BY CHECKING WHO TRAVELS ON THE RIVERS, BUT NOT CONTROL
IT.
///END ACT///
PERU'S SHINING PATH IS STILL A SECURITY THREAT TO THAT NATION,
EVEN THOUGH THE REBEL GROUP'S STRENGTH HAS BEEN WEAKENED IN
RECENT YEARS FOLLOWING THE 1992 CAPTURE OF ITS LEADER, ABIMAEL
GUZMAN. WEDNESDAY'S CAPTURE OF GUZMAN'S SUCCESSOR, KNOWN AS
COMMANDER FELICIANO, IS EXPECTED TO DEAL ANOTHER BLOW TO THE
REBEL GROUP. NEVERTHELESS, ELEMENTS OF THE SHINING PATH CONTINUE
TO OPERATE IN REMOTE JUNGLE AREAS ALONG THE COUNTRY'S EASTERN
FRONTIER WITH BRAZIL.
POLITICAL ANALYST DE GOES BELIEVES WHILE SHINING PATH MAY NOT
REPRESENT A SECURITY THREAT TO BRAZIL, ITS ACTIVITIES --
ESPECIALLY ITS ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT WITH DRUG SMUGGLERS -- ARE
WORRISOME.
///DE GOES PORTUGUESE ACT WITH ENG. TRANS.///
I DON'T THINK SENDERO LUMINOSO REPRESENTS ANY GREAT
THREAT TO BRAZIL. THE REGION THEY HAVE PENETRATED IS AN
ISOLATED AREA, WITHOUT POPULATION, WITHOUT
COMMUNICATIONS. THE GUERRILLAS ENTER BRAZILIAN
TERRITORY TO BUY WEAPONS, AND TO PROTECT DRUG
TRAFFICKERS, AND THE DRUG SMUGGLERS COME AND GO ACROSS
THE BORDER. IT IS NOT ABOUT POLITICS FOR THE
GUERRILLAS, THEY HAVE NO POLITICAL CAUSE IN BRAZIL, IT'S
ABOUT FINANCING THEIR OPERATIONS. SO IT'S A PROBLEM AND
HOW IT'S GOING TO DEVELOP, I DON'T KNOW. BUT I THINK
BRAZIL WILL HAVE TO RESPOND BY STRENGTHENING ITS
MILITARY, POLICE AND TECHNOLOGICAL ASSETS IN THE AMAZON
REGION.
///END ACT///
///OPT/// INDEED, DRUG SMUGGLING -- RATHER THAN FOREIGN GUERRILLA
ACTIVITY -- REPRESENTS A FAR GREATER SECURITY THREAT TO BRAZIL'S
AMAZON BASIN. BRAZIL HAS THE UNWANTED DISTINCTION OF BEING THE
PRINCIPAL TRANSIT CORRIDOR FOR COCAINE BOUND FOR EUROPE. THE
DRUG IS SMUGGLED BY RIVER, ROAD, OR AIRCRAFT THROUGH THE SPARSELY
POPULATED AMAZON REGION TO THE FORMER DUTCH COLONY OF SURINAME ON
BRAZIL'S NORTHERN BORDER.
ANALYST DE GOES, WHO HEADS A POLITICAL THINK-TANK IN BRASILIA
(EDS: INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE ESTUDOS POLITICOS), SAYS --
IRONICALLY, THE INCREASE OF DRUG SMUGGLING THROUGH BRAZIL'S
AMAZON MAY BE THE RESULT OF JOINT ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS BY THE UNITED
STATES AND NEIGHBORING COCA-PRODUCING COUNTRIES.
///DE GOES ACT PORTUGUESE ACT WITH ENG. VOICEOVER///
THE UNITED STATES HAS FORMED A MILITARY ALLIANCE WITH
GOVERNMENTS IN COCA PRODUCING COUNTRIES TO FIGHT AGAINST
DRUG TRAFFICKERS, AND AS A RESULT THERE HAS BEEN A
MIGRATION OF DRUG TRAFFICKERS INTO BRAZILIAN TERRITORY
IN THE AMAZON. THIS HAS RESULTED IN A PROBLEM FOR
BRAZIL WHICH IT DID NOT HAVE BEFORE, IT'S A NEW PROBLEM.
///END ACT & OPT///
PRESIDENT CARDOSO'S GOVERNMENT HAS RESPONDED TO THE POTENTIAL
SECURITY THREAT FROM BOTH TRAFFICKERS AND ARMED FOREIGN REBELS BY
ORDERING STEPPED UP SURVEILLANCE OF THE AMAZON BASIN BY THE ARMED
FORCES. A SPECIAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE UNIT HAS BEEN DISPATCHED
TO THE REGION, TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORTS OF FOREIGN GUERRILLA
ACTIVITY ALONG BRAZIL'S FRONTIER WITH PERU AND COLOMBIA. AS A
SIGN OF ITS CONCERN, THE BRAZILIAN MILITARY ALSO HAS STRENGTHED
AN ARMY OUTPOST IN SANTA ROSA -- IN THE STATE OF ACRE, ACROSS THE
PERUVIAN BORDER. (SIGNED)
NEB/WFR/ENE/KL
14-Jul-99 1:31 PM EDT (1731 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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