Controversial Navy project highlights increase in Brazil’s defense spending

The Jair Bolsonaro administration has exploited several loopholes in order to fund a controversial project to build four new Navy warships

Defense spending in Brazil skyrockets under Jair Bolsonaro

Jul 26, 2020 11:24 7 min read

Launched three years ago, the plan to upgrade the Brazilian Navy squadron has been subject to several complaints of irregularities. In the most recent chapter of this billion-Real deal, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes resorted to an accounting maneuver to transfer BRL 89 million to the Emgepron, the state-owned company in charge of the program, foreseeing the purchase of four new warships. Meanwhile, the Federal Accounts Court (TCU) has been monitoring the venture closely, already pointing out a series of faults in its execution.

The Navy submitted the so-called Tamandaré-Class project back in 2017. With an estimated cost of BRL...

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Controversial Navy project highlights increase in Brazil’s defense spending

The Jair Bolsonaro administration has exploited several loopholes in order to fund a controversial project to build four new Navy warships

Access all of The Brazilian Report

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