Brazil/US joint exercises in the Amazon are an opportunity for Americans and should be paid, analyst says.

By Denise Assis (247) - During his inauguration speech at the Northern Military Command (CMN), at the 2nd Jungle Infantry Battalion (2nd BIS), in the city of Belém, General Luciano Guilherme Cabral Pinheiro announced that one of the main projects of the new administration will be... Operation CORE 23, conducted with the United States Army.This will be the first time this type of operation has taken place in the Amazon. Cabral Pinheiro will command the Army troops in the states of Amapá, Maranhão, Pará, and part of Tocantins, in an area corresponding to 20% of Brazilian territory. The initiative has caused controversy among defense experts.

According to military analyst and Brazilian Navy reserve officer, Commander Robinson Farinazzo, who spoke about the topic to the Sputnik website, Brazil should demand something in return from the US for guaranteeing the training of American military personnel in a jungle environment. According to the analyst, military relations with the US do not favor Brazil, which should demand reciprocal benefits from its northern neighbor.

The combined Brazil/US exercises (Operation CORE) in the Amazon rainforest, scheduled to take place this year, are described by the Brazilian military, to their own personnel, as beneficial and a consequence of the close friendship between the two countries. They argue, in a highly biased analysis full of historical fragments, that these exercises bring technological and educational benefits to the training of Brazilian soldiers. 

What they don't say, however, is that the joint operations will allow them to map and obtain valuable information about the minerals found there and all the richness of Brazil's fauna and flora, exhaustively exploited. Not by the troops, but based on the information collected here.

 According to a paper The message circulating within the ranks states, “Operation CORE is part of the XXXVII Bilateral Conference of General Staffs, signed between Brazil and the United States of America. It constitutes an important chapter in the historical relationship between these two nations, which began with the USA as the first nation to recognize Brazil's independence approximately 200 years ago.” A leap in history, to justify this incursion into our territory. And they insist on “historicizing,” to appease those who look at these exercises askance, with good reason:

“Considering this fact, it is important to draw a timeline, which will begin with a brief historical overview,” they elaborate. In this sense, “we can highlight that, in its military expression, the Brazil-US relationship began to take on its main contours from 1934 onwards, on the occasion of the so-called American Military Mission (AMM).” Allegations of all kinds are valid, including a mention of the American advances compared to the French: “At that time, French military doctrine exerted a strong influence on the Brazilian barracks, and the objective of the American mission was to guide teaching at the Army Technical School, create the Coastal Artillery Training Center1 and provide an adaptation to the “fire-control” system2.”

Emotional appeal: remembrance of the expedition members.

And, in an appeal that could be classified as "emotional," they recall the actions of our expeditionary soldiers in the Second World War: "coincidentally, with the end of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) in 1939, the Second World War began, in which there was intense operational involvement between the allied armies of Brazil and the USA. The Theater of Operations in Italy demanded great adaptation from the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB); however, after an intense period of instruction and real operations with the American Fifth Army, the Brazilian troops became a force," they emphasize. 

"At that time, the connection between Brazil and the US intensified, as reported by Marshal Castello Branco, then the FEB's operations officer, who stated in one of his conferences: 'after Monte Castelo, Brazilians and Americans were no longer allies, but men who, like brothers, were fighting in Italy.' How sweet."

And, according to the text issued to demonstrate the positive aspects of said Operation, they also recall: “After 1945, over the years, despite successive changes in governments and ideologies (in both nations), bilateral military cooperation agreements were signed in various areas, such as: operations, science and technology, and logistics.” 

And then, yes, they arrive at their intended goal: the pure and simple defense of the "exercises," which, not by chance, began after the impeachment of President Dilma, with strong US assistance. 

It was Michel's doing, as he committed himself up to his neck to them in order to reach the presidential chair. "In this scenario, marked by several cooperation agreements that contributed to the improvement of the military capabilities of both countries, we arrive at the 21st century, more precisely the year 2017, when work began on holding annual combined exercises involving Brazil and the USA," they report. 

After the historical/emotional defense of the emergence of Operation CORE (Combined Operations and Rotation Exercise), they describe the "objectives." They continue: "we can highlight the exchange of experiences with the US Army, especially regarding training methods, troop organization and deployment, and the establishment of future partnerships for capacity building."

The US and the Army intend to extend exercises until 2028.

In language filled with terms that only the military would use, they justify that this version 3, "is structured around a series of lines of effort to improve interoperability between the two armies. One of them consists of enhancing capabilities in the Movement and Maneuver combat function." 

And here comes what interests us, the time that these American military personnel will spend turning our "backyard" upside down, which is how they see us: "for this purpose, exercises were planned until 2028, with alternating executing countries." 

In Brazil, the operation is expected to be carried out in different biomes throughout the editions that will take place in the country. Look at the danger there. 

The first of these operations, contracted in 2020 but carried out in 2021 (CORE 21), was conducted in the Vale do Paraíba region between November 28 and December 18 of that year and was described as follows: "the sequence of actions was based on a hypothetical tactical framework".

At the time, groups (similar to the MST) were used to simulate the confrontations, to be combated because they presented a danger of guerrilla warfare. The document leaked and caused considerable questioning in a country already in turmoil and heading towards an election marked by fake news and hate attacks from those in power. 

In this activity, a subunit of the Parachute Infantry Brigade was integrated into a US battalion in a rotation for troop certification at the JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center), located at Fort Polk, Leesville, Louisiana, USA.

Also according to the Sputnik website, the Northern Military Command and a delegation from the United States Army are meeting for another planning conference in the Master Scenario Events List (MSEL) category, to gather and develop scenarios for the Combined Exercise CORE 23, which will take place in the Amazon region in November of this year. The activities are divided between the states of Pará and Amapá.

In the city of Belém, the planning teams addressed issues related to troop preparation, logistics, tactical coordination, and ratified the schedule of meetings and training sessions at the Integrated Headquarters. Meanwhile, in the city of Macapá, another team surveyed the areas where the exercises will be conducted and verified the port infrastructure for the arrival of the US ship carrying materials for CORE 23.