Brazil, U.S. to hold unprecedented military exercise

Photo: Antônio Oliveira/MD

Next week, Brazil and the U.S. will mobilize roughly 1,000 Army troops in an unprecedented joint military exercise in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This will be the first such combined training session by U.S. troops in Latin America.

Named Core (Combined Operations and Rotation Exercise), the exercise will begin on Monday and run until December 16. The operation will include helicopters and snipers, with a total of 750 Brazilian troops and 240 U.S. Army personnel.

According to a cooperation agreement between the two countries, both armies will carry out the exercise every year until 2028. The objective is to develop joint operations involving Brazil and the U.S., training Brazilian standby land forces and improving their operational readiness systems.

On November 23, Defense Minister Walter Souza Braga Netto received a visit from the new head of the U.S. Southern Command, Army General Laura Richardson, in what was her first trip to Brazil. Gen. Richardson also visited military facilities across the country.

André Spigariol

André Spigariol covers Brazilian foreign policy, politics, and economics. He has been published by several media outlets in Latin America, including Vortex Media, Spotniks, Congresso em Foco, La Tercera, CNN Chile, Radio Cooperativa, among others.