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7.4. Brazil’s strategy on Haiti: a classical Realist expansion?7.4.1. The Nature of Brazil’s InvolvementBrazil stepped into the breach, pledging troops for the UN Stabilization Mission inHaiti (MINUSTAH), after France and the US had scaled back their militaryinvolvement on the Caribbean island. Brazil along with other Latin Americancountries, it is noted, “came forward with significant offers of peacekeepers for thefirst time in a UN operation in the Western Hemisphere”. 649According to Ambassador Gonçalo Mello Mourão, head of the Department forCentral America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of External Relations (MRE),Brazil’s decision to participate in MINUSTAH was based on consultation withCaribbean and Latin American partners:It was a major foreign relations decision on the part of Brazil. As a major foreignrelations decision, it was of course taken at the most high level, by the Presidenthimself. This is a step that was taken after consultations. The role of MRE…was togather a coincidence of views as far as Latin American and Caribbean countrieswere concerned. So, our first concern in engaging in MINUSTAH was to get acommon vision from the continent…mostly Latin America and the Caribbeancountries. Argentina, Chile, Uruguay in the first place, and then others came. Todayyou have Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala. They are all part of themilitary presence of Latin America in Haiti. They represent more than half of themilitary presence there. 650Moreover, the country’s legislators sanctioned Brazil’s participation, as the BrazilianCongress supported the decision with a majority of 266 votes in favour and 118against. 651 Legislative Decree No.207 of 19 May 2004, approved by the President ofBrazil’s Congress, formalised Brazil’s commitment to the Mission, 652 a constitutionalnecessity. One vocal opponent to Brazil’s participation in the operation was thepower-broker, Bahia representative, and right-wing politician, Antônio CarlosMagalhães. Magalhães voiced his dissent in terms of Brazilian national priorities649 Howland, “How MINUSTAH falls short in Haiti”, 164.650 Interview with the author, Brasília, July 2010.651 Susanne Gratius, “Brazil in the Americas: A Regional Peace Broker?”, FRIDEWorking Paper 35, April 2007: 18, fn 51.652 Marinha do Brasil, 2010 ‘Entenda a participacao brasileira na Missao deEstabilizacao das Nacoes Unidas no Haiti (MINUSTAH)’, accessed online at:http://www.mar.mil.br/hotsites/terremoto_no_haiti/historia/historia.html on 2 December,2010.254