Brazil, Colombia, Peru to hit Amazon smugglers
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PATROL VESSEL PEDRO TEIXEIRA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil, Colombia and Peru agreed on Wednesday to cooperate in the fight on drugs and arms smuggling along the waterways that form their borders in the heart of the Amazon jungle.
The accord, signed on board Brazil's river patrol vessel Pedro Teixeira by defense ministers from the three countries, marks the first such three-way military coordination in South America's recent history, officials said.
The deal calls on the armed forces of the three countries to share information on suspected smugglers on the rivers of their Amazon frontiers and opens the way for coordinated military operations to crack down on the criminals.
"It is very difficult to have a physical presence along the whole frontier," said Peru's Defense Minister Roberto Chiabra. "With this, one could put forces in a blocking position if there are operations in one of the other countries."
"We have to unite our forces against our enemies," said Brazil's Defense Minister Jose Viegas. The agreement was signed on the Pedro Teixeira as it floated in the middle of the Amazon River where the three countries meet in the western Amazon -- considered international waters dividing the three.
Colombia has a special interest in the deal as it sends a clear signal to the Marxist guerrillas it has waged war with for decades that neighboring countries will not tolerate incursions. The guerrillas, known by their Spanish acronym FARC, tax the drug trade to finance their war.
"This is intended to complicate the lives of the FARC," said one Colombian Defense Ministry official on the Pedro Teixeira, which was escorted by a small flotilla of patrol boats. Soldiers with machine guns stood guard along the ship's sides.
Colombia's Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said Colombia's drug-runners are increasingly moving to this part of the Amazon as Bogota clamps down on the drug trade on its Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
Colombian officials said an estimated 20 percent of Colombia's drugs pass through the Amazon, to Brazilian consumers and to markets further away.
Brazil has a long jungle border with Colombia. Throughout the Amazon -- a continuous area of jungle larger than western Europe -- the massive network of rivers act as the highways. There are no roads through the impenetrable forests.
Viegas said Brazil would further boost its military presence in the Amazon with the establishment of another brigade along the Colombian border, adding about 2,500 soldiers to its current force of 24,000 in the area.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
