The economic and strategic importance of the Port of Santos motivated the reinforcement of security in the region
By First Lieutenant (RM2-T) Vanessa Mendonça and First Lieutenant (T) Taise Oliveira – Santos – SP
As of today (10), the city of Santos (SP), home to Latin America’s largest port complex and responsible for 28% of Brazil’s trade balance, now has a new Marine Group. The activation of this Military Organization increases the operational capacity of the Brazilian Navy (MB) in the region, expanding cooperation with federal agencies, acting in Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) actions and ensuring greater control at the port facilities of Santos, São Sebastião (SP) and Paranaguá (PR), as well as increasing its presence at the triple border in Foz do Iguaçu (PR).
The Port of Santos, which handles more than 130 million tons a year, contributes to the country’s economic and social development, generating jobs, income and opportunities for millions of Brazilians. That’s why it requires constant vigilance and protection, as the Commander of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral Wladmilson Borges de Aguiar, points out. “Today, we have several threats, including drug trafficking, and the presence of the Marine Group in Santos will certainly increase the security of our largest port and the city of Santos as a whole, in partnership with the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Police and other municipal security agencies.”
The Santos Marine Group was initially activated at the end of the 1950s and operated until the end of the 1970s. “The reactivation of the Santos Marine Group reinforces our maritime security at such an important time for Brazil and values all the potential that our sea has, and all the power projection capacity on land that the Navy has,” said the Commandant General of the Marine Corps, Fleet Admiral Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga.
Under the command of Frigate Captain (Marine) Eric Ricardo de Souza, the group will initially be made up of 56 soldiers, with an increase to 158 soldiers by the end of 2026. “Being Commander of the Santos Marine Group is an honor, and I’m aware of the responsibility of being in charge of a troop of ready employment, which will expand the Brazilian Navy’s operations in the area of jurisdiction of the 8th Naval District, particularly in the city of Santos, which has the largest port in Latin America, of extreme strategic importance for our country’s economy,” he concluded.
Operation Lais de Guia – the “GLO of the Sea”
Since November 6 of last year, around 1,900 MB military personnel, 535 of them in the Santos region, have been deployed to strengthen actions to prevent and repress crimes such as drug and arms trafficking, as part of the GLO, which is scheduled to last until May 3 of this year, according to Decree No. 11,765, signed by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on November 1, 2023.
Through Operation “Lais de Guia”, named after the sailor’s knot famous for its usefulness and reliability, the Navy is coordinating with public security agencies in the land and sea areas of the ports of Santos, Rio de Janeiro and Itaguaí (RJ), and in the Brazilian area of Lake Itaipu (PR and MS).
Source: Agência Marinha de Notícias