The Brazilian military: its role in counter-drug activities.

• Main Author: Kitchener, Roy I.
• Other Authors: Tollefson, Scott D.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/23557

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited === This thesis examines the role of Brazil's military in counter-drug operations. Drug trafficking in Brazil poses a growing threat to the country's national security, but Brazil's physical size and limited resources have hindered the government's counter-drug efforts. The Brazilian military has been reluctant to assume a more significant role in counter-drug operations. The thesis argues that external, internal, and institutional pressures are driving the Brazilian military to expand its counter-drug role. The thesis recommends that the Brazilian military expand its current support role in counter-drug operations, but that it avoid a direct role in law enforcement operations. The United States should support this expanded role, but only to the extent that such a role does not threaten the further consolidation of democracy in Brazil.