The Daily Populous Sunday September 7th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cnnbrasil.com.br and submitted by -InAHiddenPlace-

Atualmente, Constituição não permite o uso de energia nuclear para desenvolvimento bélico; Silveira argumenta, no entanto, que essa posição precisará ser revista no longo prazo

Ministro diz que Brasil precisa se planejar para desenvolver defesa nuclear

O ministro de Minas e Energia, Alexandre Silveira, afirmou nesta sexta-feira (5), que o Brasil precisará, para manter a soberania nacional, utilizar a energia nuclear no setor de defesa.

Hoje, a Constituição não permite o uso de energia nuclear para o desenvolvimento bélico. Silveira argumenta, no entanto, que essa posição precisará ser revista no longo prazo.

“Infelizmente vivemos ataques muito fortes à nossa soberania. No longo prazo, tenho absolutamente certeza que os homens públicos do país vão ter que rever a posição para que mantenhamos um país soberano. Com tantas riquezas, temos que nos planejar para utilizar essa fonte para fins de defesa nacional”, disse o ministro.

As declarações foram dadas em entrevista após cerimônia de posse dos diretores da ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis) e ANSN (Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Nuclear).

Silveira defendeu sua posição afirmando que o Brasil é rico em recursos naturais, como minerais críticos e água doce, além de contar com um clima tropical, fatores que atraem interesses internacionais. O ministro citou, inclusive, "ataques especulativos" do presidente dos Estados Unidos, Donald Trump.

“São grandes riquezas do subsolo em que o Brasil deve ser soberano na defesa. O Brasil é gigante pela própria natureza. Um país com tantas riquezas, com minerais em abundância, não podemos admitir que continue tendo miséria, fome e desigualdade”, disse.

Silveira ainda afirmou que, no momento, o governo trabalha no desenvolvimento da cadeia nuclear para fins energéticos.

All_in_Biz on September 7th, 2025 at 07:48 UTC »

The kind of reports coming out of Washington in the past few months would force every large country like Brazil to consider deterrence options. And Brazil’s location makes deterrence even more important.

A recent report said Pentagon has decided to focus on the vicinity and fighting enemies within rather than countering China. This is a dramatic reversal of decades old US policy that was designed around countering China’s military strength as the Asian nation was considered the primary competitor.

Trump has been consistently saying that anything beyond North and South America is not US’ concern. He is building a narrative that Hispanic immigrants and drug cartels are far bigger enemies threatening US than China. Sending troops to fight crimes in cities like Chicago is the manifestation of Trump’s policy of the “enemy within”.

The US becoming inward looking has widespread ramifications for countries like Japan, South Korea and European countries, but including South American crime gangs in the enemy within definition is an alarming threat for large countries near US.

If you consider the situation from Brazil’s lens, what stops Trump or some other US president in a few years from terming a Brazil-based criminal or a gang a national threat for the US and justify military action based on it.

Any large country with vast natural resources would try to build deterrence.

SanityZetpe66 on September 7th, 2025 at 06:58 UTC »

It would be geopolitically a very interesting case, different from all other regions that have nukes, Brazil is the one with the most stable foreign relations, different from NA and Europe, Asia, Africa or the middle east, it's stable without actors with any intention of posing a risk to each other.

But it would shift the balance of power, perhaps make thing more these because now Brazil looks more proactive, so, Brazil-led sudamérica, maybe Mexico will also strengthen by cohort.

Still, it'll never happen, there's no real benefits even with this, there's no political will to begin making LATAM into something more involved with each other.

-InAHiddenPlace- on September 7th, 2025 at 05:53 UTC »

Yesterday I came across an interview with a Brazilian minister suggesting the country might need to rethink its stance on developing nuclear weapons for the sake of sovereignty. What do you guys think about Brazil developing nukes strictly for defensive purposes?

Honestly, I’d never even considered this seriously before. Brazil is a peaceful country, no territorial or ethnic disputes, no traditional enemies. But the world feels different now. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the inability of Western powers to decisively respond to Russian aggression. And after Trump came back into office… it’s like the whole game changed. Not just the rules, the game itself. His 50% tariffs on Brazil make zero economic sense, and he openly framed them as political blackmail: drop the legal cases against Bolsonaro, remove a Supreme Court justice, and scrap Big Tech regulations. On top of that, US warships and jets are now sitting close to Venezuela, and airstrikes there seem like a real possibility.

There’s also the fact that Brazil has massive natural wealth, especially rare earth minerals, we’re second only to China. For decades, Brazil’s strong diplomacy gave us some sense of safety. But lately diplomacy feels dead, what used to be state policy now looks like short-term government deals, or just nothing at all.

So here’s my question: are we heading into a world (or rather re-entering to) where the only real guarantee of sovereignty is military strength?

And if Brazil were to go down that path, what kind of international backlash would we be looking at?