Keeping the peace?

It may be little noticed here in London, but in Haiti a Brazilian general has been put in charge of the UN peace keeping mission. Augusto Ribeiro Pereira will be in charge of troops from 23 countries, including the US and other South American countries, including Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

Given the perception America has at present, it's probably just as well hemispheric security was given over to another country. But it also raises questions about the Brazilian leadership in this mission. For the first time (as far as I can recall), Brazil's military will be doing something humanitarian and worthy - as opposed to plotting coups and running dictatorships.

It also shows the influence that Brazil potentially can play regionally and on the world stage, where it is a temporary member of the UN Security Council. Time will tell whether Brazil's command will be a success, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it feels like the start of a new chapter in Brazilian foreign and defence policy.