Brazilian Armed Forces

The Brazilian Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas Brasileiras, ) is the unified military organization comprising the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviation), the Brazilian Navy (including the Brazilian Marine Corps and Brazilian Naval Aviation) and the Brazilian Air Force.

Brazil's armed forces are the largest in Latin America, with 327,710 active-duty troops and officers. With no serious external or internal threats, the armed forces are searching for a new role. They are expanding their presence in the Amazon under the Northern Corridor (Calha Norte) program. In 1994 Brazilian troops joined United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces in five countries. Brazilian soldiers have been in Haiti since 2004 leading the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH).

The Brazilian military, especially the army, has become more involved in civic-action programs, education, health care, and constructing roads, bridges, and railroads across the nation. Although the 1988 constitution preserves the external and internal roles of the armed forces, it places the military under presidential authority. Thus, the new charter changed the manner in which the military could exercise its moderating power.

Read more about Brazilian Armed Forces:  Organization, Military History of Brazil, Ministry of Defense, Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy, Brazilian Air Force, Military Industry, Extensive Modernization Program, Earth Observation

Famous quotes containing the words brazilian, armed and/or forces:

    If I were a Brazilian without land or money or the means to feed my children, I would be burning the rain forest too.
    Sting [Gordon Matthew Sumner] (b. 1951)

    O thou day o’ th’ world,
    Chain mine armed neck, leap thou, attire and all,
    Through proof of harness to my heart, and there
    Ride on the pants triumphing!
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Her wrongs are ... indissolubly linked with all undefended woe, all helpless suffering, and the plenitude of her “rights” will mean the final triumph of all right over might, the supremacy of the moral forces of reason and justice and love in the government of the nation. God hasten the day.
    Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)