Photo c. Sharron Ward

Brazil

Brazil is a significant UK arms customer and a growing arms producer. While Brazil's external relations are peaceful, extreme police violence against mostly black communities is rampant. Violence by illegal mining and foresting operators against indigenous peoples and environmental activists is also a serious problem, although the current government is increasing efforts to tackle this.

Last updated 29 October 2025

Introduction

Brazil is by far the largest country in Latin America, with a population of 213 million people. It is a functioning democracy, with its democratic institutions having survived a period of far-right rule from 2019-22 by former President Jair Bolsonaro, and an attempted coup he instigated after losing the 2022 Presidential election to current President Luis Ignacio da Silva (Lula). In 2025, he was sentenced to jail for his role in the attempted coup.

Despite this, Brazil has a severe problem of armed violence by police, militia, and armed criminal gangs in urban favelas where poor, marginalised, mostly black sections of the population live. This is a result of severe anti-black racism that is a legacy of slavery. Brazil has a significant domestic arms industry, including two companies that are major producers and exporters of small arms (Taurus), and tear gas (Condor Non-Lethal Technologies). Brazil is also a mid-level arms importer, with France its principal supplier, but also significant imports from Sweden, Italy, the US and the UK.

Brazil is not a country with a high relative level of military spending to GDP, although due to its size it remains a significant spender in absolute terms, at $21 billion in 2024 according to SIPRI, the 21st highest worldwide, and by far the highest in Latin America. It has nonetheless consistently kept military spending under 2% of its GDP, and down to 1.0% in 2024. Brazilian military spending mostly concerns personnel costs, particularly retired personnel, in levels far above developed countries and countries with similar economies. Historically, 80% of Brazilian military spending was payroll – a clear sign of the country’s unresolved authoritarian legacies that mostly benefited not only politically, but also economically, those associated with the Armed Forces.

Brazil was under direct military rule from 1964 until 1985, when a new democratic phase was inaugurated. President ‘Lula’ da Silva of the left-wing Worker’s Party, once fiercely opposed by the military, was elected in 2002. During Lula’s and his Worker’s Party successor, Dilma Roussef, Brazil saw an economic boom, accompanied by government spending that benefited the urban poor, Black people and other significant sectors of the Brazilian working class. However, Brazilian military spending also boomed under Lula, despite his history with the military.

However, corruption scandals involving State companies such as Petrobras led to the impeachment of Lula’s successor Dilma Roussef in a highly controversial process. In January 2018, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, former military, was elected. Bolsonaro did favour the military in many ways, although not in terms of budget. Despite promises to increase military spending, it fell steadily through Bolsonaro’s term, by 18.7% in real terms from 2018-22. But a major winner of the Bolsonaro years, thanks to his strong personal support, was the private small-arms company Taurus. Thanks to Bolsonaro’s lax gun laws, between 2018 and 2022, Taurus’ shares skyrocketed, as well as its profits.

In the 2022 presidential election, Bolsonaro was defeated by former President Lula, who took office in January 2023. Since his return to power, Lula has reinstated gun control policies that have undercut some of Taurus’ gains. Military spending has remained largely steady in real terms since 2022 – which has had the Brazilian Defense Studies Association criticizing its shyness in relation to the military and the unjustified public spending on arms from a country that would have much more to gain from public spending in education and healthcare. Concerning gun production, sale and buying, the difference between left and right in Brazil seem to be that of mainly supporting privately-owned small weapons or heavy State-produced military machinery. For a highly unequal country, not taking part in any major international conflicts and proud of its peaceful international relations, both alternatives are questioned by civil specialists and civil society alike.

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Posters on a pavement about repression in Brazil

Repression in the Favelas and periferias

Many poor, urban communities in Brazil, especially the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, have been subject to severe armed violence at the hands of drug gangs, paramilitary militias formed in opposition to these gangs, and the police and armed forces.


Violence against women

Violence against women is a major feature of the high levels of armed violence and militarised repression in Brazil's favelas. Brazil's women's movements are fighting back against this, including against the small arms company Taurus that fuels so much of this violence.


Credit: Darren Johnson

Indigenous rights in Brazil

Brazil is home to around 900,000 indigenous people. Indigenous people still face discrimination and repression in a variety of ways and are under continual pressure from the powerful agribusiness and other industry lobbies. The election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro led to a major increase in violence against indigenous communities and denial of rights. The

Activist holding up image of a person wearing red lipstick and sunflowers on a yellow background

Brazilian Women Against Fascism

A group of immigrant Latina women from Brazil living in the UK, Brazilian Women Against Fascism UK was created to fight the rise of fascism in Brazil, after the election of new president Jair Bolsonaro.

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UK arms sales to Brazil

Brazil has traditionally bought only a small proportion of its weapons from the UK. Between 2015 and 2024, the UK approved £850m in Single Individual Export Licences (SIELs), including £333m in 2024. In the same period, 172 unlimited value Open Individual Export Licenses (OIELs) were also approved.

These licences included £357 millions worth of military aircraft, helicopters and drones and their components, £262 millions of grenades, bombs, missiles and related components and countermeasures, £89m of warships and components, and £81m of target acquisition, weapon control, radars, and related components and countermeasure systems.

In 2018, the UK delivered one Ocean amphibious assault ship to Brazil, followed by one Adams Challenge support ship in 2020. In 2019, Brazil ordered 100 Meteor MI missiles from the UK, which are still to be delivered, to be used by Brazil’s Saab Gripen combat aircraft, of which 36 were ordered by Brazil from Sweden in 2015, and more recently naval systems and air radars. There are also major UK components in the Gripens, including the radar system and the landing gear.

Brazil's arms industry and suppliers


Credit: Alexandre Durão/Revista Força Aérea CC BY-SA 2.0 on Flickr

Brazil’s arms suppliers

Brazil's arms come from a range of international suppliers, as well as its domestic arms industry. It was the 35th biggest importer of major conventional weapons between 2009-2018.

Dozens of used tear gas canisters with Condor markings visible lying on ground.

Brazil’s arms industry

Brazil has a substantial domestic arms industry, and was the 24th biggest exporter of major conventional weapons between 2015-24. It hosts a major biennial arms fair, LAAD Defence and Security, which is strongly supported by the Brazilian government and armed forces.


Brazil’s arms industry links with Israel

Brazil's arms industry has significant links with that of Israel, whose largest arms company, Elbit Systems, has two Brazilian subsidiaries. Brazil has signed defence and security cooperation agreements with Israel and imports arms from them, although one major deal, for the purchase of Atmos 2000 artillery systems from Elbit, has been suspended since the beginning

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