The Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM, pt, Sistema de Vigilância da Amazônia), is a complex surveillance system used for monitoring Amazônia Legal ("legal Amazon area"). This area includes the Brazilian rainforest, to curb the trafficking of illegal narcotics and to curb

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

or burning of the forest. The system uses a mixture of fixed and mobile ground radar, as well as airborne surveillance using the Embraer

ERJ 145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenge ...

. The combined platform is called the R-99. The U.S. military contractor

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

, the Brazilian firm ATECH, the Canadian Aerospace company MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) and Embraer won the tender to build the SIVAM system. Today, the project has delivered its equipment to the government, creating the SIPAM (Amazonian Protection System) and enhancing the Brazilian Airspace Control System. SIPAM headquarters are located in

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Raytheon controversy

Allegations of

bribery Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Co ...

were made against Raytheon in 1995 in connection with its efforts to win a 1.4 billion US dollar

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

contract from Brazil for the SIVAM project. SIVAM, the acronym for "System for Vigilance over the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

," was a complex radar surveillance system planned to be used to monitor the Amazon rainforest, allegedly to curb the trafficking of narcotics and to curb illegal logging or burning of the forest. Brazilian police wiretapped a telephone conversation between a special advisor to the

Brazilian President The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Braz ...

, and Raytheon's operative in Brazil, Jose Afonso Assumpcão. According to transcripts published in the Brazilian national weekly ''

Isto É Edvard Isto, or Eetu Isto (28 November 1865 – 14 October 1905) was a Finnish artist, best known for his patriotic painting '' The Attack'' which depicts the perceived Russification of Finland by the Russian Empire. The work was widely repr ...

'', when Assumpcão told Gomes dos Santos that Brazilian Senator Gilberto Miranda might block the Raytheon contract, Gomes dos Santos responded, "Damn, did you already pay this guy?". Gomes dos Santos and Brazil's aviation minister resigned because of allegations that this conversation suggested that bribes were paid. Raytheon ultimately was awarded the contract after

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, whic ...

by the administration of U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

References

Bibliography

Michel Braudeau Michel Braudeau (born 1946 in Niort) is a French writer.http://www.gallimard.fr/Contributeurs/Michel-Braudeau (page visited on 19 August 2013). He was editor-in-chief of the ''Nouvelle revue française'', from 1999 to 2010. Works * ''L'Amazo ...

, « L'espion qui vient du ciel » (Espionage which comes from the sky), in ''Le rêve amazonien'',

éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (; formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961) is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Gast ...

, 2004 ().

External links

SIVAM Presentation

SIPAM site

ATECH site
Communications in Brazil Amazon basin Radar networks {{law-enforcement-stub

Raytheon controversy

See also

References

Bibliography

External links