MILITARY PREPARATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE VENEZUELAN MIGRATION CRISIS IN BRAZIL

Since 2016, the social, economic and political crisis in Venezuela has forced more than 7 million Venezuelans to leave their homes in search of other destinations. In 2018, due to increasingly worsening conditions on the country's northern border, Brazil established Operation Acolhida, which aims to offer shelter to Venezuelan immigrants and refugees. The use of military personnel at Acolhida soon generated criticism, such as "militarization" and "securitization" of Brazil's migration agenda. This article aims to analyze the role of the Armed Forces in responding to the Venezuelan migration crisis through military preparation and employment within the scope of Acolhida. The question that guides this article is: Is the preparation of Brazilian military personnel adequate to train them to care for people in extremely vulnerable situations in mobility contexts? The article follows a descriptive, qualitative and exploratory approach, using interviews with key actors in preparation and employment as data collection, as well as documentary and bibliographic analysis. The data was analyzed using qualitative analysis software such as Nvivo and highlighted in the text through interviews and quotes. The research identifies the need to improve preparation time in order to reduce the feeling of militarization. Furthermore, it also identifies qualitative aspects such as the need for better training in the Spanish language, knowledge of the local reality in addition to greater participation of civilian actors in preparation, aiming to place the military in an interagency and plural environment.