A Amazônia e o poder naval: a atuação da Marinha do Brasil à luz das relações civis-militares nos anos 1980

Abstract

The Amazon, endowed with vast natural wealth, has long been the target of international interest. To ensure its integration with the rest of Brazil, several strategies for territorial occupation and socioeconomic development were adopted. However, the immensity of the rainforest and its unique characteristics made it challenging for public policies to reach remote and isolated areas. To overcome this barrier, the political level relied on the Armed Forces as an instrument capable of extending state presence into regions inaccessible by traditional means. In this context, the Brazilian Navy played a fundamental role by using the river network to project state authority, support territorial integration, and reach riverside communities historically distant from government action. Understanding this experience requires the analysis of civil-military relations, as the expanded presence of the Armed Forces in areas of low state density involves complex interactions with civil structures and local society. This dissertation examines the Brazilian Navy’s activities in the Amazon during the 1980s, a period characterized by logistical limitations, institutional vulnerabilities, and geopolitical pressures. The study is based on the classical literature on civil-military relations, particularly the theoretical models of Samuel P. Huntington and Morris Janowitz, which offer distinct perspectives on military professionalism, functional autonomy, and social integration. The research employs the Theory vs. Reality methodology, structured around the historical context of the region, the description of naval actions, and the analysis of their institutional insertion, providing a comprehensive understanding of the Navy’s role during this period. The findings indicate the existence of a hybrid model of institutional engagement, where the Brazilian Navy positioned itself between the theoretical paradigms of Huntington and Janowitz.