Gunboat diplomacy?

The 4th US Fleet returns to patrol our seas. For what?

There is 170 years, six sailboats set out from New York for a circumnavigation of the globe trip. A U.S. Exploring Expedition, commanded by Officer Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), mapped coasts and islands from all continents for four years. It was the kickoff for the military expansion of the United St

ned by the seas of the world. But due to stiff competition of English in the North Atlantic and Russians in the Pacific, Americans turned mainly to the seas of Latin America.

From there to here, the story is known: conflicts like the Spanish-American War (1898) and the invasion of Guatemala (1953) guarantee about Tio Sam in

m good handful of protectorates in the region. No wonder, therefore, the reaction of the Brazilian government and its neighbors to

reactivation, last July, the dreaded 4th Naval Fleet (U.S. 4th Fleet).

Created in 1943 in the city of Norfolk (Virginia), fighting unit was transferred in the same year for Christmas (RN). His mission was to escort, along with the 16th Squadron of the Air Force, merchant ships threatened by German submarines. In the capital Natal, It was based on Parnamirim Field, the largest US military facility outside the US.

The unit was deactivated in 1950, but would return to Brazilian waters in March 1964, on the eve of the military coup. He stood in wait in the Santos coast, prepared to assist in the overthrow of the government Goulart. The covert operation "Brother Sam", revealed by the journalist Marcos Sá Corrêa in the Jornal do Brazil in December 1976, It aimed to ensure a pro-US government in the country, away the communist threat. Since there was no reaction and not a single shot was fired, the Americans returned home and were incorporated into the 2nd Fleet, responsible for patrolling across the Atlantic.

Its current resurgence generates a wave of distrust in the continent. The American consul in Brazil, Clifford Sobel, ensures that the functions of the 4th Fleet will merely humanitarian. An intention not very consistent with the profile of the officer assigned to command it: Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, egress of the elite force of the Marine Corps, It has in obscure resume operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For the Brazilian government, they are after our oil. Recent discoveries in the pre-salt layer (deep waters) the Tupi field, in the Santos Basin, seem to confirm the fear. Rodrigo Cintra, degree in International Relations and professor at the Ibero-American University Center, He says the big northern brother may also be eyeing the aquifers and the arable land, the largest in the world. "Essential elements for the production of food, currently in crisis ", justified. In a kind of update work between Wilkes 1838 e 1842, the Mariners would be mapping the trade routes, ports and inland watersheds. After all, "It's the shipping that valuable agricultural commodity is exported", claims Cintra.

If the security of the South Seas is a return to gunboat diplomacy, only time will tell. The problem is that they have guns and we, not.

Source: Journal of History of the National Library

http://www.revistadehistoria.com.br/v2/home/?go=detalhe&id=1954