Múcio visits ship and wants more funds for the Armed Forces – 04/12/2023 – Politics

On a visit to the largest ship in the Brazilian Navy, Defense Minister José Múcio Monteiro said this Wednesday (12) that the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is studying a proposal to raise funds for the Armed Forces.

According to Múcio, the government is analyzing a project to gradually increase resources to a level equivalent to 2% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

“Today we spend 1.3% of our GDP on investments in the Armed Forces”, said the minister.

“We are preparing a combined proposal with the three commanders to first present a budget of 1.5% [do PIB]after 1.8%, after 2%, which is the number recommended by NATO [Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte]”, he stated.

The statements were made during Múcio’s visit aboard the Navy’s largest ship, the Multipurpose Aircraft Ship Atlântico.

The vessel is around 200 meters long, and the crew reaches approximately one thousand people in one day of operation, according to members of the Navy. Built in England, Atlântico was incorporated in 2018.

The Navy used the vessel this year to help in the relief operation for the population affected by heavy rains in São Sebastião (SP).

The ship was positioned on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, at a distance equivalent to about 50 km from the coast.

For Múcio, “all countries are investing in defense” and the government also intends to encourage a resumption of vessel construction in the naval industry in Brazil, a measure that divides opinions among economists.

“I strongly defend this because it would generate jobs in a short space of time. When you want to build a ship, the shipyards are ready, a submarine, and so on for other weapons as well,” he said.

The naval sector had a boost in previous PT governments, but suffered a downfall in recent years.

The difficulty in competing with Asian countries is pointed out by economists as an obstacle to the development of this industry. Shipyards were also affected by the discovery, in Operation Lava Jato, of irregularities in contracts.

In Múcio’s assessment, the Lula government concentrated on “tidying up” in the first hundred days of its mandate and now intends to “materialize” plans.

“In these one hundred days, a lot of care was taken with tidying up. Now, we are going to start to materialize the wishes that the government has”, said the minister.

Questioned about the Executive’s relationship with the Armed Forces, Múcio minimized the turmoil registered in the change of government. According to him, relations “are excellent”, and “things have worked very well”. “The president has been participating in the events of the three services,” he said.

Múcio’s visit to the ship this Wednesday was scheduled in the midst of the LAAD 2023 international fair, focused on the area of ​​defense and security. The event, which takes place this week in Rio de Janeiro, is considered the largest military fair in Latin America.

Múcio was accompanied on the visit to the ship Atlântico by the commander of the Navy, Marcos Sampaio Olsen, who said he saw no difficulty in dialogue between the federal government and the Armed Forces.

Olsen also advocated raising Defense budget resources to 2% of GDP and stimulating Brazilian shipbuilding.

“President Lula, from the first moment, was concerned about providing the Forces with means that corresponded to the height of Brazil’s political and strategic stature”, he said.

Representatives of the naval industry were invited to visit the vessel, which took place between the end of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon. The route between LAAD and the ship was traveled by aircraft.

The Navy was the Force that created the most difficulties for Lula during the government transition. Former commander Almir Garnier avoided meetings with Múcio and missed the handover of command to new chief Marcos Sampaio Olsen —an unprecedented action since redemocratization.

The Force was also criticized for the decision to sink, in February, the aircraft carrier São Paulo, off the Brazilian coast, in view of the degradation of the ship’s hull. The vessel had tons of asbestos and other toxic substances that, at the bottom of the sea, can cause the death of species and changes in maritime ecosystems, according to Ibama.

Olsen, however, began to be celebrated in Defense and by President Lula’s interlocutors as one of the commanders with the best treatment. The role of the Navy in helping operations against mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land was also seen as exemplary and cited as a symbol of the change in attitude of the Armed Forces.