Brazil Antarctic Geopolitics
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| Motto: Order and Progress | |||
| Anthem: Brazilian National Anthem | |||
| Territorial Claim: 28°W to 53°W; overlaps Argentine, British and Chilean claims. | |||
| Status | Special Zone of Interest under the supervision of the Comissão Interministerial para os Recursos do Mar | ||
| Official language | Portuguese | ||
| Capital | EA Comandante Ferraz Base, King George Island | ||
| Population | 48 (winter) - 100 (summer) | ||
| Currency | None | ||
Brazilian Antarctica (Antártica Brasileira) is the name of the Antarctic territory south of 60°S, and from 28°W to 53°W, designated by Brazil in 1986 as its 'Zone of Interest'. While the substance of that designation has never been precisely defined, it does not formally contradict the Argentine and British claims geographically overlapping with that zone.
In discussing Brazilian geopolitics, one must be careful to note that Brazil, in comparison to Argentina and Chile, has major geographic disadvantages with regards to Antarctica, and is generally considered the “newcomer” on the Antarctic geopolitical stage. In 1982 the Brazilian government launched their first Antarctic expedition, and a year later built their first base (named Comandante Ferraz, for a deceased naval officer active in Antarctica), which has been active year-round since then.
Despite their status as newcomers, Brazilian geopolitical writers have had considerable influence on the nation’s Antarctic policies (especially during the period of military dictatorship under a series of unelected general/presidents from 1964 to 1985), although one cannot speak of a national Brazilian Antarctic consciousness similar to that of Argentina or Chile.
Brazil's Antarctic geopolitics are reinforced by the notion of Brazilian grandeza which, Brazilians feel, will be part of the country's eventual status as a major world power. Brazilian analysts and officials have often stressed Brazil's special geopolitical status as a major power sitting astride key navigation sea lanes of communication in the Atlantic from the Equator to Antarctica. This notion has always been resisted by Argentina, but after that country’s ignominious defeat by the British in 1982 Brazilian geopoliticians felt they had to fill the power vacuum left by Argentina and become the “guardian of the South-West Atlantic”.
A Brazilian geostrategist, Therezinha de Castro, came up with a concept in the South American Quadrant of Antarctica which had a considerable impact on Argentina and several other South American nations: the notion of defrontação (frontage). Under this concept, in the South American sector of Antarctica (Greenwich 0 degree meridian to 90 degrees West) all non-South American nations would be required to remove their bases. The one-quarter piece of Antarctica as defined above would come under the control (although not necessarily sovereignty) of those six South American countries which had “open” meridians to the South Pole (i.e. north-south lines which did not touch or include any other nation’s South American territory). This approach would greatly diminish the sectors presently claimed by Argentina and Chile, would eliminate the British sector, and would give small, but significant, sectors to Uruguay, Peru and Ecuador (thanks to the Galapagos Islands). Brazil would have the largest sector.
Frontage concept was never an official Brazilian government position, but it was widely accepted by Brazilian geopoliticians and others with an interest in Antarctica. As might be expected, it was strongly opposed by Argentine and Chilean geopoliticians, and welcomed by those in Uruguay, Peru and Ecuador.
It is interesting to note that the Brazilian Antarctic base Comandante Ferraz is situated outside of the declared Brazilian 'Zone of interest', namely in the South Shetland Islands.
As is the case with Argentina and Chile, the military (especially the Air Force and the Navy) play a major role in Brazil's Antarctic program.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources & References
- Child, Jack. Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum. New York: Praeger, 1988, Chaper 6.
- Coelho, Aristides Pinto. "Novas tendências". Boletim Antártico, no. 4, Jan 1985.
- de Castro, Therezinha. "Antárctica: Assunto do Momento". Revista de Clube Militar (Brazil), 1958.
- de Castro, Therezinha. Atlas-Texto de Geopolítica do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Capemi Editora, 1982.
- Dodds, Klaus. Geopolitics in Antarctica : views from the Southern Oceanic Rim. Chichester ; New York : Published in association with Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge by J. Wiley, 1997.
- Moneta, Carlos J., ed. La Antártida en el Sistema Internacional del Futuro. Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Lationoamericano, 1988.
- Schmied, Julie. La Política Antárctica de los Países Latinoamericanos. Madrid: Instituto de Cuestiones Internacionales, 1988.
- WorldStatesmen - Antarctica
- Flags of the World - Antarctica
- Map showing the Brazilizan Antarctica
- W.L. de Freitas, A Antártica no contexto do Sistema Interamericano e a paz nas Américas, Colégio Interamericano de Defesa, Washington, D.C.
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| Current | Adélie Land · Argentine Antarctica · Australian Antarctic Territory · Brazilian Antarctica · British Antarctic Territory · Antarctic Chilean Territory · Ross Dependency · Queen Maud Land · Peter I Island |  |
| Former | New Swabia | |
