Brazil to place 4 military posts and monitoring equipment on border with Venezuela

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to Journal do Brasil broadsheet, Brazil plans to build 13 military posts along its borders with Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. 

The first of two posts was bulit last week on the border with Colombia (Vaupes Department)  allegedly to monitor and control incursions from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),  who allegedly are press-ganging Brazilian indians into their army.  

4 posts will go up along the Venezuelan border and 7 along the Peruvian border.

The Brazilian government will introduce a border census campaign in the Melo Franco town (20 kilometers from the border)  housing 30,000 inhabitants. 

Journal do Brasil reports that the Amazonia Monitoring System (AMS) will relay details of overflights in the area to clamp down on illegal activities, such as guerrilla incursions, narco-trafficking transshipments and damage to the environment. The AMS is said to be a complex system involving satellites, radars and planes to monitor the Amazon region.