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For reasons of principle, I consider that agreeing to participate in MINUSTAH wasa mistake. I argue that the military presence should be replaced as soon as possibleby cooperation that is exclusively civil, social, technical and humanitarian. 679While the Left was marshalling its principled opposition to the Mission, theBrazilian state (comprised of its various agencies and ministries) had long beenworking out the modalities for a smoother functioning of engagement inpeacekeeping operations. Already in 1993, an Interministerial Working Group(Grupo de Trabalho Interministerial, GTI), was convened in order better to coordinatethe Brazilian government’s response to requests for troop contributions to peacemissions. The GTI comprised representatives from Itamaraty, the Ministry ofJustice, and the Armed Forces, along with Congressional Deputies. The group’stasks were generally focused on actions and suggestions that would streamline theprocess of mobilising troops and resources, and indeed, increase their efficiency inthe UN system by facilitating greater Brazilian involvement in the UN’s Departmentof Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). 680The mobilisation and extraction of resources for foreign policy – in this case,peacekeeping operations - was further facilitated by the integration of the threeChiefs of Staff in a unitary Ministry of Defence, by the Constitutional Amendment23 of 9 February 1999. 681 This allows for greater co-ordination between the Military,the Navy and the Airforce. As noted by Velásquez, “the extent to which civiliangovernments can deploy troops abroad is determined by how much control theyexercise over the military branches”. 682 In the Brazilian case, as in others, legal andbudgetary constraints represented the two major obstacles in mobilising forparticipation in peacekeeping operations. 683 Politically and ideologically, however,Brazil’s Constitution of 1988 is more permissive than both the diplomatic traditionsof Itamaraty, and the stance of PT. Underlining this, José Genoíno, a PT Deputy,introduced a Bill in 1997, proposing to strengthen the legislative oversight of thedispatch of troops abroad. Up to then, the Constitution had been interpreted as679 Folha Online. 2007. “Leia íntegra das respostas de Valter Pomar”. Folha.com.accessed online at: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/brasil/ult96u349895.shtml on 5December 2010.680 Fontouro, O Brasil e as Operações de Manutenção da Paz, 223.681 Ibid., 229.682 Vasquez, “Brazil and Mexico in Comparative Perspective”, 365.683 Fontouro, O Brasil e as Operações de Manutenção da Paz, 275.263