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US Military Joins Brazil Army Exercises in Amazon


A Brazilian army soldier takes part in joint military training for humanitarian actions with U.S., Colombian and Peruvian soldiers, in Tabatinga, Brazil, Nov. 8, 2017.
A Brazilian army soldier takes part in joint military training for humanitarian actions with U.S., Colombian and Peruvian soldiers, in Tabatinga, Brazil, Nov. 8, 2017.

U.S. military personnel are taking part this week in the largest international army operation ever held deep in the Amazon jungle of northern Brazil, in a sign of closer U.S.-Brazil defense ties.

Troops from Brazil, Colombia and Peru will set up a temporary military base in their tri-border region for a weeklong logistics exercise in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Brazilian army officials said.

About 50 U.S. personnel will be present for the exercise, including 19 observers and 31 members of the Montana Air National Guard who will be based out of Manaus, providing air transportation, a U.S. Embassy statement said.

The United States will provide a Hercules C-130 transport plane to move personnel and equipment, the Brazilian army said.

The presence of U.S. military personnel in Brazil's Amazon region underscored improving defense relations between the two most populous countries in the Western Hemisphere after more than a decade of distancing under leftist Brazilian governments.

In March, Major General Clarence K.K. Chinn, who was then the commander of the U.S. Army South, visited military installations in the Amazon and was decorated in Brasilia. Bilateral agreements on defense cooperation and information security have taken effect recently after years of stalling in Brazil's Congress.

Colombian army soldiers take part in joint military training for humanitarian actions with U.S., Brazilian and Peruvian soldiers, in Tabatinga, Brazil, Nov. 8, 2017.
Colombian army soldiers take part in joint military training for humanitarian actions with U.S., Brazilian and Peruvian soldiers, in Tabatinga, Brazil, Nov. 8, 2017.

Crisis preparation

General Guilherme Gaspar de Oliveira, a Brazilian army logistics commander, told local media it was the first time such a large military exercise had been held in the Amazon. He said the exercises helped prepare armed forces for a humanitarian crisis such as mass migration.

Brazil has kept a close eye on economic and political upheaval in neighboring Venezuela that could trigger such an exodus. More than 30,000 Venezuelans have already fled over the border into the northern Brazilian state of Roraima, according to federal police.

The Brazilian army said Venezuela was one of the 19 countries sending observers for the November 6-13 United America Operation.

Brazilian Defense Minister Raul Jungmann will attend the jungle exercises on the weekend and then fly to Washington for three days of talks with Pentagon officials, his press representative said.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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