Alencar's comments go against the Brazilian constitution and treaty obligations [AP]

Jose Alencar, who led the defence ministry from 2004 to 2006, said in an interview with several Brazilian news media broadcast on Saturday that his country needed atomic weapons.

"The nuclear weapon, used as an instrument of deterrence, is of great importance for a country that has 15,000 kilometers of border to the west and a territorial sea where oil reserves have been found," he said.

Adriano Silva, an aide to Alencar, confirmed the comments published by newspapers including O Globo and O Estado de Sao Paulo.

But he said they were personal opinions and not a position of the government. Brazil's constitution prohibits nuclear weapons.

A spokesman for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, told the Associated Press news agency that Alencar's comments "do not reflect the position of the government".

Nevertheless, the remarks came on the same day that the UN Security Council voted unanimously for a strategy aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminating them.

Brazilian officials have promoted nuclear-generated electrical power and say they plan to build a nuclear-propelled submarine. But Nelson Jobim, the defence minister reiterated as recently as in August that Brazil has no interest in nuclear weapons.

Alencar, who is not a member of the ruling party, sometimes expresses positions at odds with Silva's, David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said.

Fleischer said Brazil abandoned efforts to develop nuclear weapons about 25 years ago when the military ceded control of the country to civilians.

Brazil has also signed the 1988 Tlatelolco Treaty that bars nuclear arms in South America.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4