Fernando Alcoforado *
For a nation to be sovereign, it would need to have four characteristics: 1) to be a single and indivisible country, that is, there are no two States in its national territory; 2) there is no other power in the country with which it has to share the authority of the State; 3) be an independent country economically, financially and technologically; and 4) to be an independent country in the international system, that is, that it does not depend on any supranational power and only considers itself bound by the norms of international law resulting from freely given treaties or customs voluntarily and expressly accepted.
Brazil is not a sovereign nation because, despite meeting characteristics 1 and 2 described above, it does not present characteristics 3 and 4. Brazil is not a sovereign country because it is not an independent country economically, financially and technologically in relation to the exterior (characteristic 3), that is, Brazil depends on the capital and technology of multinational companies operating in the Brazilian economy, of capital of the international financial system and of importing countries with the sale of Brazilian goods and services. Brazil is not a sovereign country because it is not an independent country in the international system (characteristic 4) in which it acts subalternly in relation to the great powers in the international scene.
In order to reach the status of a sovereign nation, Brazil would initially have to become an independent economic, financial and technological country (characteristic 3) and then become an independent country in the international system (characteristic 4). In order to become economically and financially independent, Brazil would have to break with dependence on foreign direct investment and not require the funding of international organizations to complete domestic savings for investment. In order to become technologically independent, Brazil would have to break with the dependence not only of capital but also of foreign technology. In Brazil, Petrobras in oil exploration technology, especially in deep water, and Embraer in aeronautical technology are few examples of Brazil’s independence in the technological field.
The achievement of independence in the international system depends on the ability of Brazil to become economically, financially and technologically independent, as well as its defense policy. Some issues related to the policy of defending the national integrity of external threats, such as the application of sanctions by the UN against Brazil in the case of violation of the rights of indigenous peoples residing in the country that, under the pretext of humanitarian reasons, there would be military intervention by the UN or any of the members of the Security Council to take possession of the existing mineral wealth and biodiversity in the Amazon in Brazil as has already happened in Iraq and Libya when the Western powers took possession of the oil fields.
Another issue related to the defense of national integrity concerns the restructuring of the Brazilian war industry to end Brazil’s dependence on the outside world, the strengthening of the Navy to act in the control and policing of maritime areas to avoid the concentration of enemy forces in the country. avoiding the occupation of the Amazon region, which holds abundant mineral resources, vast water resources and immense potential of biodiversity, by foreign powers, to protect the oil rigs where the Pre-salt is located (in the range from Santos to Vitória ) located in the waters under Brazilian jurisdiction and the lines of communication, as well as being present in the large river basins of the Amazon River to the North and the Paraguay and Paraná Rivers to the South.
Another issue related to the defense of national integrity is the development of the potential of military and national mobilization with the objective of assuring the dissuasive and operational capacity of the Armed Forces, to foment the military cooperation of the countries of South America, the integration of the industrial bases defense, monitoring and control of land borders and Brazilian jurisdictional waters, highlighting the ability to respond promptly to any threat or aggression through strategic mobility. The defense of national integrity also concerns the effective use of the potential of natural resources existing in Brazil, strengthening the Brazilian domestic market with the adoption of effective policies of income distribution and import substitution aimed at promoting the growth of the Brazilian industrial park and , consequently, to promote the development of the Brazilian economy.
None of the candidates for the Presidency of the Republic presents a proposal related to defending the integrity of Brazil in the face of external threats. The candidate who would have the greatest conditions to make Brazil economically, financially and technologically independent (characteristic 3) would be Ciro Gomes because he presents a proposal capable of promoting the reactivation of the Brazilian economy by considering the State as an inducer of economic growth and implementing the National Plan of Development, with a focus on combating the deindustrialization of the country. It´s positive the proposal of Ciro Gomes to establish a limit for the payment of domestic public debt by the State and to establish a ceiling for all expenses to enable the availability of public resources for investment, as well as its proposal to use US $ 200 billion of Brazil’s international reserves to pay 9% of the country’s domestic debt.
It´s positive the proposal of Ciro Gomes against the privatization of Eletrobras and the adoption of a policy for the oil sector which provides the application of the percentages prior to law of sharing for the exploration of oil and gas in the pre-salt areas, the expropriation of all oil fields auctioned to foreign companies in the Temer government and the limitation of Petrobras’ profit by 3%, in addition to changing the way the company is managed. His proposal to suspend the agreement between Embraer and Boeing that would lead to the definitive denationalization of Embraer and put in check the policy of productive and technological autonomy in the area of Defense of Brazil, would harm the Brazilian industry that would be affected by the reduction of purchases internal parts and components that will be carried out largely in the United States by Boeing and would lose control over the management of the company as a whole that would be assumed by Boeing.
Fernando Haddad also presents positive initiatives aimed at the reactivation of the Brazilian economy, especially those aimed at raising public investments, including the resumption of paralyzed works, Petrobras’ investments and the “Minha Casa Minha Vida” program of popular housing. It´s positive Haddad’s initiative to constitute an investment fund composed of 10% of international reserves and contributions from public banks and debentures to finance infrastructure projects. Unlike Ciro Gomes, Fernando Haddad does not present concrete proposals to break with the neoliberal model that led the Brazilian economy to the current disaster and does not present proposals that will contribute to halt the process of denationalization and de-industrialization of the Brazilian economy. However, its initiative to strengthen Petrobras is correct, with the maintenance of the sharing regime in the Pre-salt area and the local content policy.
The serious and certainly weak point of Fernando Haddad’s proposal regarding fiscal policy lies in the fact that he proposes no initiative to stop the rapid growth of the public debt that, without its equation, there will be no solution to the fiscal crisis of the State in Brazil. However, the proposal of Fernando Haddad is positive against the sale of Petrobras assets, the non-privatization of Petrobras and eventual sales of assets of Eletrobras and Petrobras. It is absolutely correct his proposal to revise the agreement between Embraer and Boeing that would lead to the definitive denationalization of Embraer and would call into question the policy of productive and technological autonomy in the area of Defense of Brazil would harm the Brazilian industry that would be affected by the reduction of purchases internal parts and components that will be carried out largely in the United States by Boeing and would lose control over the management of the company as a whole that would be assumed by Boeing.
It is therefore clear that Ciro Gomes as well as Fernando Haddad in the Presidency of the Republic would contribute to the achievement of the economic, financial and technological independence of Brazil, especially Ciro Gomes who, unlike Fernando Haddad, proposes a National Development Plan of short, medium and the long term. As for the candidates Jair Bolsonaro and Geraldo Alckmin, they are defenders of neoliberalism that, besides not proposing any economic plan that contributes to solve the economic crisis of the Country and the unemployment that unfortunates the Brazilian population, leaving the direction of the economy by market forces, recommend the Minimum State and the privatization of state-owned enterprises, including Petrobras. In turn, Marina Silva does not propose a National Development Plan in which the government would be an inducer of the development process. Its economic proposal is typically neoliberal in allowing prices, interest and exchange rates to be dictated by the market forces. However, Marina Silva’s proposal not to privatize Petrobras, Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco do Brasil, and to adopt an energy policy that incorporates renewable energy, is positive.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 78, holder of the CONFEA / CREA System Medal of Merit, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 13 books addressing issues such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world and The Great Scientific, Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World.
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