July 25, 2002
Brazil is launching a $1.4bn radar system to spy on illegal loggers, miners and drug runners in the Amazon rainforest.
The network of radars, control towers and aircraft - called System for the Vigilance of the Amazon (SIVAM) - will also help in cataloguing the forest's immense diversity of plant, insect and animal life and monitoring indigenous populations.
The SIVAM project began 10 years ago in response to illegal activities that infest the forest - the size of western Europe.
But critics say the radar system, which was designed by an American company, will give Big-Brother-style control over the Amazon and its border with cocaine-producing Colombia, to the United States.
"It is clear that this was a geopolitical move by the United States with grave consequences for possible military activities," said opposition lawmaker Arlindo Chinaglia, who backs the re-opening of a congressional probe into SIVAM.
'Gaping hole'
Critics also claim that US radar designers Raytheon received preferential treatment in winning the contract. Brazil's Aeronautics Ministry denies the claims.
SIVAM says that the 25 radars, control towers and surveillance planes will be a vital tool against drug or wood smugglers whose runways and roads are camouflaged by the forest canopy.
"There was a gaping (security) hole over more than half of the Amazon," said SIVAM spokesman Jurandyr Fonseca.
But defence experts says the radar will be a toothless tiger, with the Brazilian military banned from shooting down suspect aircraft.
"We are going to be in a pretty pathetic situation," said Roberto Godoy, a defence affairs correspondent with Estado de S.Paulo daily.
"We have the electronic eye, the capacity to intercept, but we are not permitted to do this."
Environmentalists are also sceptical that wildlife wll benefit because of budget cuts to federal environmental agencies.
"Fighting logging has nothing to do with registering that logging is going on," said Paulo Adario, coordinator of Greenpeace's Amazon campaign. "It has everything to do with political, economic and administrative measures."
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