Analysis: Brazil’s “Gunpowder” Power Compared to That of the U.S.A.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One day after President Jair Bolsonaro said that “when words run out, you need to have gunpowder”, in reference to the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, Estadão news site has compared the military power of the two nations.

The Brazilian President is one of the world leaders who has not yet acknowledged Biden’s victory – joining him are Russian Vladimir Putin, Chinese Xi Jinping and North Korean Kim Jong-Un.

“We just saw a great candidate for head of state say that unless I extinguish the Amazon fires, he will raise trade barriers against Brazil. How can we deal with all this? Diplomacy is not enough, Ernesto (Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs). Because when words run out, you need to have gunpowder, otherwise it doesn’t work. You don’t even need to use the gunpowder, but it must be known that you have it,” said Bolsonaro during an event on Tuesday afternoon.

Hours after the President’s statement, the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman, Tweeted a video praising the U.S. Marine Corps. on the 245th anniversary of its founding in 1775.

According to the ranking conducted by the Global Firepower website, the U.S. invests annually US$750 (R$4.050) billion in Defense. In Brazil, the estimated investment is US$27.8 billion, a difference that translates into numbers, structure, strength and power projection capacity.

The U.S. holds some 5,800 nuclear weapons – Brazil owns none. The Americans have approximately 715 fighter jets, while Brazil has 78. Furthermore, the U.S. Armed Forces own 5,768 helicopters and 6,289 tanks – Brazil owns 242 and 437, respectively.

On land, the U.S. has 39,253 armored combat vehicles and 1,366 rocket launchers – in Brazil, there are 1,820 and 84. At sea, the U.S. holds 20 aircraft carriers, 91 destroyers and 66 submarines. Brazil has no aircraft carrier, no destroyer and six submarines.

“The only two armed forces in the world that would be able to oppose the U.S. Armed Forces to some extent would be China and Russia,” explains Gunther Rudzit, professor of international relations at ESPM (Higher School of Advertising and Marketing) and an expert in security and defense. “The capacity and organization of the U.S. Armed Forces is at such a level that no other in the world could come close.”

Source: Estadão Conteúdo