U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently sent correspondence to Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advocating Brazil bilateral security cooperation expansion.
Rubio indicated the effort would counter growing Chinese Communist Party influence (CCP) in the Western Hemisphere.
“Brazil is an important U.S. ally and security partner with key capabilities that is willing to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our forces to ensure the security and stability of the southern Atlantic Ocean and the broader region,” Rubio, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women’s Issues, wrote. “As such, I strongly urge you to prioritize and pursue options to expand this relationship and support initiatives to make the region safer from the CCP’s malign influence. As we have seen many times, this influence includes corruption, vaccine extortion, deceitful lending practices, party-to-party training, environmental threats, and challenges to sovereignty.”
The Brazilian Army’s airborne component has worked with American forces for decades. Brazil was the only country in South America to send forces to Europe to join the Allies in World War II.
“Carrying on this tradition, the Brazilian Army was the first South American company-sized element to train at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and intends to do so again in the near future,” Rubio concluded. “General Laura Richardson’s recent visit to the country is a good first step in maintaining and expanding our close ties with Brazil during her tenure as Commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), but there is more the U.S. Department of Defense can and should be doing to foster this relationship.”