Security Update (Wed)

Since early May, when the Bolivian government decreed the 'nationalisation' of the hydrocarbons sector and the attitudes of several high-ranking Bolivian officials towards Brazil started sounding a decidedly hostile note, speculation began to circulate about preparations for a Brazilian military response. By late May, to the undisguised glee of the Venezuelan opposition media, reports began to appear in the Brazilian press about a thorough review of defence plans, in which Bolivia appears as a hot spot and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is seen as a 'destabilising element'. While there is a kernel of truth in this, the broader picture appears to have been blown out of proportion.