Brasília – On Thursday (19), due to the severe drought affecting several municipalities in the Amazon, the Ministry of Defense activated the
Amanaci Joint Operational Command, following the publication of GM-MD Order No. 5,152. The ministry is now coordinating the joint deployment of the Armed Forces to provide logistical support for civil defense and protection efforts in emergency regions. Over the next two days, five municipalities in Amazonas should receive 42 tons of supplies transported by the military.
On the first day of the joint operation, in cooperation with the Amazonas Civil Defense, 2,000 food baskets were received at the Manaus Air Base, equivalent to 42 tons. The food will be transported to Tabatinga, in the state, on a Brazilian Air Force KC-390 Millennium aircraft. From there, they will be distributed to five municipalities in emergency situations: Amaturá, Atalaia do Norte, Benjamin Constant, São Paulo de Olivença and Tonantins.
Prompt response from the military – On September 29, representatives of the Armed Forces took part in a meeting at the headquarters of the Amazonas State Government. Since then, the military has stepped up its support efforts to combat the impacts caused by the severe drought in the state.
As well as working on demarcating critical stretches of the Amazon River and the mouth of the Madeira River, the Navy is trying to remove sediment from the rivers and facilitate navigation between the municipalities of Tabatinga and Benjamim Constant in the state. Army troops transported 3.5 tons of food to six communities in the municipality of Alvarães and 6,000 food baskets from Manaus to Tabatinga.
Ground Force troops also provided a strategic ferry to take food to the population of Tefé, as well as cooperating with the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute in rescuing dolphins stranded in shallow pools and warm waters.