Brasília – The government of Brazil aims to bring delegations from ten African and Caribbean countries to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, this month, in Rio de Janeiro. The operation is being prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, alongside the Ministry of Defence and the Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer, and will include two Legacy aircraft belonging to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), another Legacy and an Embraer 190, with capacity for 100 passengers, loaned by the Brazilian company.
The flights to bring the foreign delegations should leave from Brazil and the United States. According to the Ministry of Defence, up to now, the estimate is that 66 participants should be transported from the following countries: São Tomé and Príncipe, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cape Verde, Barbados, Granada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and Nevis and Dominica. The number of visitors transported, however, may rise according to demand. The population of the four latter nations is below 100,000 inhabitants, smaller than some 300 Brazilian cities.
The summit of heads of State and Government begins on the 18th. On the 19th of this month, there will be a demonstration about the use of sugarcane-made biofuels for aircraft engines, using an Embraer 195.
Rio+20 should go from June 13th to 23rd and representatives of 102 countries have already confirmed their presence. According to the Ministry of Defence, the safety scheme for the conference will count on 15,000 military troops working directly at the sites where there are events, plus another 5,000 troops strengthening Galeão, Afonsos and Santa Cruz air bases, in Rio. Men should also strengthen security at Guarulhos Base, in São Paulo, and Viracopos Airport, in Campinas.
*Translated by Mark Ament
