The agreement, which could be signed as early as on Monday, is meant to demonstrate strengthening ties between the two militaries, despite diplomatic tensions over Brazil’s refusal to back new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
It also comes as Brazil is evaluating bids in a multibillion dollar fighter jet competition, in which US-based Boeing Co is one of three contenders.
In Brasilia, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim described the upcoming accord as a “generic, umbrella agreement” that would facilitate future negotiations in defense issues.
“I’m trying to agree with Secretary Gates to sign this accord in Washington on Monday,” Jobim told a congressional hearing, referring to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Pentagon officials acknowledged a new defense agreement with Brazil was being worked on and could be signed as early as next week in Washington. But they did not offer a date.
Last year, a US agreement with Colombia allowing US troops greater access to Colombian bases raised eyebrows in the region. It prompted cries of foul from neighboring Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez claimed it was part of a plot for invasion.
But the latest agreement would not allow the United States to build a military base in Brazil, despite speculation in South American media about that possibility, a diplomatic source said.
“There is no provision for special access to installations … there is no provision of building new installations,” said the source, who asked not to be named. The diplomatic source said the accord would contain a clause guaranteeing respect for each nation’s sovereignty and “territorial integrity,” as well as non-intervention in internal matters.
Brazil has urged continued dialogue with Iran even as Western powers push for a new round of sanctions in the UN Security Council, where Latin America’s largest country has a revolving seat.
Still, Brazilian diplomats deny that Brazil backs Iran, even though President Luiz Iancio Lula da Silva welcome his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Brazil last year and plans to visit Tehran in May.
The new accord would be the first umbrella agreement on defence cooperation with the United States since Brazil’s then-military dictatorship withdrew from a similar accord in 1977, a diplomatic source said.
Despite not having an umbrella agreement in place, the US and Brazilian militaries have signed other defence agreements related to specific areas of cooperation, including a 2000 accord on the provision of US defense materials, the diplomatic source said.
