RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday, October 11th, at the Itaguaí Naval Complex, 80 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, that he will refuse to allow attempts to treat Brazil as a colonized country. Followed by several ministers and Rio de Janeiro governor Wilson Witzel, he took part in the ceremony that marked one of the last building stages of the new Brazilian submarine, named Humaitá or SBR-2.
“They are increasingly seeking to put us in the status of colonized people, abroad. We will not allow this,” he said in his brief statement. The president further mentioned the speech given at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last month.
“Brazil was under attack over the question of our sovereignty in the Amazon and I had the pleasure of speaking at the UN, to the whole world, that the Amazon is ours. It is Brazil’s heritage. In order for us to ensure this, we need the means and men and women who are prepared, selfless and increasingly willing to serve our homeland. The fate of Brazil will be accomplished by all of us together and united,” he said.
In his speech, Bolsonaro also said that Brazil has internal and external enemies. “Those inside are the worst. The outsiders we will defeat with technology and willingness and means of deterrence,” he said. The president said he hopes to leave the country better than he found it when he took office. “Our party is Brazil,” he said. The statement comes amidst news that the president could leave his political party, PSL, due to a deterioration in his relationship with its national leaders.
Submarine
At the ceremony, the hull sections of the Humaitá submarine were incorporated. The next construction stage involves the connection of 80 kilometers of electrical and logical cables. It is expected that in the second semester of next year it will be launched at sea for its testing phase.
Humaitá is the second of four submarines with diesel-electric propulsion planned to defend the Brazilian coast. They are part of the Submarine Development Program (PROSUB), launched in 2008, which provides a total investment of R$35 billion.
Components manufactured in Brazil are prioritized for the construction of the vessels. According to the Navy, PROSUB is reinforcing several industrial sectors of strategic importance for national development.
Plans also include the construction of a fifth submarine, which will have nuclear propulsion. Its delivery is scheduled for 2029. Currently, only six countries are building and operating nuclear-powered submarines: the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China, and India. To join this select group, Brazil has signed an agreement with France, the only country that has agreed to transfer technology at the required level and train Brazilian workers.
The first PROSUB submarine, named Riachuelo, has already been launched at sea and will begin its testing phase later this year. The other two with diesel-electric propulsion, the Tonelero, and the Angostura, are scheduled for delivery in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Bolsonaro ignores France in a ceremony despite the partnership with submarine
President Jair Bolsonaro ignored France during the ceremony for the Humaitá submarine, the second built in partnership between the two countries in 2008, still under the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He stressed the project’s importance in protecting “national sovereignty” and said that Brazil will overcome what it regards as its external enemies.
Bolsonaro sends message to Governor of Rio
One of the president’s indirect hints during his speech was directed at the governor of Rio and a potential opponent in the attempt at re-election in 2022, Wilson Witzel. Gazing at the Governor, he said: “I work so that in the future those who, ethically, morally and courageously, wish to take over the Presidency of the Republic will find a much better situation than the one I found this year”.
The president and the governor drew apart politically last month after Witzel expressed on more than one occasion that he intends to dispute the next presidential election. Bolsonaro also looked at the governor when he mentioned “internal enemies”.
Source: Agência Brasil, Estadão Conteúdo