Brazil Issues - 2024

Disputes - international

Brazil-Bolivia: the Roboré Accord of March 29, 1958 placed the long-disputed Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Río Mamoré, between the two towns of Guajará-Mirim (Brazil) and Guayaramerin (Bolivia), under Bolivian administration but did not resolve the sovereignty dispute

Brazil-Colombia: contraband smuggling (narcotics and arms), illegal migration, trafficking in animals, plants, lumber, illegal exploitation of mineral resources, and incursions by Colombian insurgent/narco-terrorists groups in the area remain problematic issues

Brazil-Uruguay: the uncontested boundary dispute between Brazil and Uruguay over Arroyo de la Invernada triangle and sovereignty over Isla Brasilera leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question; smuggling of firearms and narcotics continues to be an issue along the Uruguay-Brazil border

Brazil-Venezuela: Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Brazil's border region with Venezuela; more than 500,000 Venezuelan migrants have entered Brazil since March 2018, with more than 16,000 Venezuelans arriving monthly in the latter half of 2023; in 2023, Brazil shifted military resources to northern Roraima state in response to heightened tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over the disputed Essequibo region of Guyana

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 449,678 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or received alternative legal stay) (2023)

IDPs: 5,600 (2022)

stateless persons: 12 (2022)

Illicit drugs

a significant drug transit and destination country for cocaine bound for Europe and other destinations including the United States; domestic drug use and addiction is a significant problem and it is second only to the United States in cocaine consumption; a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics