São Paulo – A team of eight Brazilian Navy officers should arrive in Lebanon this week to help patrol the country, which is living a moment of political turmoil. The officers will take part in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
According to the head of the United Nations division at the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty), Gilda Santos Neves, it was the United Nations (UN) that called for Brazilian assistance. "We have dense relations with Lebanon. There are many Brazilians living there," said Gilda. The embassy of Brazil to Beirut estimates that there may be as many as 15,000 Brazilians in the country.
The Itamaraty councillor added that, since last year, there has been a Brazilian head of maritime operations in the Unifil patrol program, and that the total number of Brazilians should reach nine. Among them is the commander and counter admiral Luiz Henrique Caroli, who has been in the Brazilian navy for 38 years and is participating in an international peace mission for the first time.
No specific period has been stipulated for these officers to remain in patrol operations. According to Gilda, it will depend on the situation in the area. In total, the Brazilian commander will be responsible for a fleet of eight vessels of five nationalities. The mission includes a total of 12,000 military officers from 33 countries who are part of the program for maintenance of peace in Lebanon.
Since 1978, the UN has maintained peace forces in Lebanon in the form of the Unifil. The initial objective was to guarantee peaceful removal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and to avoid conflicts between members of the Hezbollah and of Israel, as well as granting support to the Lebanese government for the consolidation of power in the region.
The Itamaraty councillor recalled that Brazil has already participated in peace missions in Mozambique, Angola and Haiti.
*Translated by Mark Ament
