Os 40 anos do PROANTAR e suas perspectivas para a geopolítica brasileira na Antártica

Abstract

Upon completing 40 years, this year 2022, the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) is going through a moment of rethinking its future and orienting its priorities, according to the needs of the scientific community, Brazilian society, and the interests of the nation. In this sense, this scientific work aims to identify the perspectives for the Program, subsidizing, if feasible, possible changes in the Strategic Plan of the Navy 2020-2040. To carry out this thesis, methodological tools were used, consisting of bibliographic and documentary research. The Antarctic Continent is an environment of superlatives since it is inhospitable and has climatic extremes. In addition, it is a source of natural resources, increasingly scarce on the planet, and can become a motivation for disputes and potential conflicts. Its proximity to South America also makes it of great relevance to the country, as a result of the strategic dimension of the Drake Strait for Long Distance Navigation. The New National Policy for Antarctic Affairs (POLANTAR) brought updates and small innovations such as the inclusion of the theme of promoting the Antarctic Mentality within society, but it could have been clearer and more objective in order to point out what the Country really wants from its presence in the Frozen Continent. Brazilian Geopolitics in Antarctica still remains outdated, as well as not thinking pragmatically about the research to be developed and its political weight in the near future. It was found that, in place of the construction of another Scientific Station, it would be better to increase the volume of research at the recently inaugurated Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF), since, at present, "scientific diplomacy" has an important weight. greater than or equal to the simple space occupation. After the construction and incorporation of the Antarctic Support Vessel (NApAnt) to the Brazilian Navy (MB), there are new logistic and research vessels to be acquired for the EACF. With the NApAnt, there is a prospect of expanding Brazilian research activities in the southern region, as well as a new moment for the Program's logistics with the use of the new FAB KC-390 freighter aircraft in support of Antarctic operations. The Antarctic Cooperation Agreement signed between Brazil and Chile will also contribute to solving the Program's logistics issues. It was found that for PROANTAR to continue to fulfill its role, it is necessary to face some challenges, which had been postponed, that is, to establish the debate and the study on what the objective to be achieved by Brazil, until 2048, as well as which, at present, makes the country remain present, in Antarctica, in the face of the new geopolitical scenario. Finally, it was noted that the expansion of Brazilian operations in the Arctic Region is natural, albeit at a slower pace than the advance towards the south, as a result of the similarities in the operational environment, systemic connectivity, geopolitical projection of Brazil, opportunities for new activities of research and expansion of scientific knowledge