U.S. Department of State

On April 12, 2010 in Washington, D.C., Brazilian Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates signed an agreement on defense cooperation between the governments of Brazil and the United States of America.

As the two most populous democracies in the Western Hemisphere, the United States and Brazil enjoy an increasingly close bilateral relationship, including in the area of defense. The DCA will enable U.S.-Brazil defense cooperation to deepen and expand into new areas of mutual interest.

Examples of cooperation promoted in the DCA include:

• Cooperation in the fields of research and development, logistics support, technology security, and the acquisition of defense products and services.
• Information exchanges on topics such as operational experiences, defense technology, and international peacekeeping operations.
• Combined military training and education, and joint military exercises.
• Collaboration relating to military systems and equipment.
• Exchanges of instructors and students from defense institutions.
• Naval ship visits.
• Commercial initiatives related to defense matters.

The signing of the DCA reflects the many national and international security interests shared by both countries. These shared interests, and the benefits of close U.S.-Brazil defense cooperation, were shown in the response by the United States and Brazil to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti – where thousands of U.S. and Brazilian military personnel worked side-by-side to deliver emergency, life-saving relief to the Haitian people.

The United States seeks partnership with the other nations in the Americas to address the complex security challenges that all our countries face. The strengthening of U.S.-Brazil defense cooperation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels will enable our two countries, and our neighbors, to come closer to achieving this goal.

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