U.S.-Brazil turf war brewing in Haiti?

Posted By Joshua Keating Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 2:23 PM Share

A few days ago, I optimistically hoped that Brazil, which led the U.S. peacekeeping operation in Haiti and lost at least 14 citizens in the earthquake would take a leadership role in the relief effort. But Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo reports that things have gotten tense on the ground between the two countries most invested in the effort -- Brazil and the United States:

Nelson Jobim, Brazil’s defence minister just came back from Haiti and made a point of that saying Brazil would not voluntarily relinquish any of its command duties. Essentially, what he was saying was that Brazil, not the Pentagon, would continue to lead the UN forces.
When pressed, Jobim also admitted that the US military doesn’t take orders from foreign forces.[...]
Brazil - like the US, U.N. and France - is in Haiti for the long haul. Jobim said on Saturday that his country would have a major presence in Haiti for at least the next five years.
Brazil is not only shouldering a big part of the UN role in Haiti, but is also leading the humanitarian efforts, sending cargo planes loaded with supplies to Haiti as fast as they can be loaded. It is also taking aid from neighbouring Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as any other country that wants to donate but can't handle the logistics on their own. 
This, too, is a growing issue. Three Brazilian planes loaded with supplies were held up and not allowed to land in Haiti by the FAA (America’s agency that handles air traffic, which is now in control of airspace in Haiti). Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, apparently was so upset about it that he put in a call to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and asked that Brazilian aeroplanes be given priority over chartered flights.

EXPLORE:HAITI'S DISASTER, LATIN AMERICA
 

BLUE13326

3:37 PM ET

January 21, 2010

You should clean up the 1st

You should clean up the 1st sentence, as it makes no sense as written.

This is probably a left-over fragment from something else:
'and last at least 14 citizens in the earthquake'

 

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