Brazil Dictatorship Wanted Atomic Bomb By HAROLD OLMOS Associated Press Writer
3:17 PM PDT, August 8, 2005
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A former president has disclosed that the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for two decades tried to develop an atomic bomb, but says the program was scrapped when an elected government assumed power in 1985.
The 1964-85 dictatorship was long suspected of seeking nuclear weapons, but ex-President Jose Sarney's comments Sunday were the first confirmation of the program.
Sarney, who led the first democratic civilian government after the dictatorship ended and previously denied the existence of the program, said he was informed that the military had dug a deep well for an eventual nuclear test explosion in a remote area of the northern state of Para.
He did not say when or how he received the information, but it was shortly after he became president in 1985.
"I reacted with surprise," Sarney told Globo TV, adding that he gave instructions for the well to be sealed. He offered no other details during an interview about the most difficult moments of his presidency.
Brazilian authorities on Monday reaffirmed that the country's constitution states that nuclear energy may only be used for peaceful purposes.
"Any initiative before the 1988 Constitution is buried," said Sergio Rezende, Brazil's science and technology minister. "All we have from the old nuclear program is knowledge related to nucelar fuel for peaceful purposes."
Sarney said he denied the existence of the atomic weapons program when he was president so as not to jeopardize talks intended to head off a nuclear arms race with neighboring Argentina.
Argentina also had reinstated democratic rule and both civilian governments were negotiating a nuclear cooperation agreement that eventually cooled a long rivalry between two of South America's most powerful nations.
"The Argentines also were engaged (in developing atomic weapons), but they also denied it, the same way as we did," Sarney said.
Argentina, which had South America's most advanced nuclear power facilities, has always denied it ever had an atomic arms program. But until the early 1980s, the country's nuclear energy program was closely tied to the Argentine military.
During Sarney's 1985-89 term, Brazil and Argentina negotiated a treaty for peaceful use of nuclear energy that gives officials of the two nations free access to most of their nuclear installations.
Sarney would not say how far along Brazil's military was in its work on atomic weapons or how close it was to detonating a nuclear device. But he said that after the treaty with Argentina, Brazilian officials found out their neighbors "were at least 10 years ahead of us."
The two nations later signed the United Nations-sponsored Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits them to not obtaining atomic weapons.
In the wake of their treaty, Brazil and Argentina engaged in an economic integration program and created Mercosur, a trade bloc that also includes Paraguay and Uruguay. Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela are associate members of the bloc.
According to Rice Brazil is one of the rising dominant power centers and as such an extremely important country.
"In the 21st century, emerging nations like India and China and Brazil and Egypt and Indonesia and South Africa are increasingly shaping the course of history." The 21st century, in Rice's view, will not be a second "American century"; it will be a global century defined by what PINR (Power and Interest News Report) has called "the new regionalism". #msg-10165682
This so far is an amazing comeback for leftist Lula and Bush can’t be all that pleased.
Background: Consider this: "Brazil is going to be the first ever nuclear weapon state (NWS) in the Southern Hemisphere by 2010." The fear of Theodore Taylor, an American physicist and expert on nuclear weapons during the 1970s would be true, if Brazil produces the bomb. #msg-2902539 #msg-2877652 #msg-4116984 #msg-6329568
The BRIC alliance (Brazil, Russia, India and China) apparently includes the SCO (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China, with Iran, India and Pakistan receiving observer status)
#msg-7006640 verifies the following Vialls excerpt:
On 10 November 2004, the India Daily reported that, "Russian President Putin is taking a lead role in the most powerful coalition of regional and superpowers in the world. The coalition consists of India, China, Russia and Brazil. This will challenge the superpower supremacy of America." … "He [Putin] wants to establish a long-term Russian footprint in Latin America in order to expand Moscow's geopolitical influence in the region. Brazil is very open to the coalition concept where these large countries support each other in term of trade, economics, international politics and defense." #msg-7006653
-Am
Brazilian President Leading Polls
Rio de Janeiro, Mar 16 (Prensa Latina) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has recovered a good position for his re-election, according to a poll issued by the National Industry Federation.
The survey revealed that if Lula confirms his intention to be re-elected and the elections were currently held, he would win in the first round since he has more supporters than the rest of all his opponents together.
Seven months before elections, Lula has more intentions of vote than ever and a clear recovery of his personal and government popularity reveals the poll.
Figures show Lula has 43 percent of support compared to the 19 percent obtained by the possible strongest opposition candidate, Sao Paulo's governor Geraldo Alckmin, from the Brazilian Social Democrat party.
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