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Brazil Civic Action
With the possible exception of military officers in Peru, the officers
in Brazil have been the most involved in civic action in South America.
To a certain extent, the civic-action role has been appropriated
because the officers consider themselves responsible for the guidance
and development of the nation. Civic action is not a new role for
the armed forces. Under Vargas
the army, which felt responsible for helping modernize the country
through a more elaborate infrastructure, was involved in development
and reconstruction projects. Construction battalions built roads
and railroads in the interior of the country. Officers were placed
in high positions within state enterprises such as the Volta Redonda
steel plant and the
Brazilian Petroleum Corporation (Petróleo Brasileiro
S.A.--Petrobrás), the petroleum monopoly. The air force and
navy were involved in transport to remote areas, and in health care
assistance to those regions. As Professor Fleischer notes, "This
new mission reinforced the doctrine of industrial development as
a basis for national strength and security and the positivist ideology
of a technocratic scientific approach to national problems."
In the early 1980s, the army was again extensively involved in
civic-action projects, such as building roads in the Northeast and
a railroad in Paraná State. Despite the reluctance of some
officers to embrace such a role, cutbacks in defense funding make
civic-action programs attractive.
Data as of April 1997
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