U.S. raises concerns about Huawei's potential role in Brazil's telecom infrastructure

On August 9th, Jake Sullivan (U.S. national security adviser) expressed his concerns regarding Huawei's interference in Brazil's 5G telecommunications network during his visit to the country. On his visit to Brazil, Sullivan met with the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, and other senior officials where they discussed issues about Amazon deforestation, vaccine supplies and cooperation in telecommunications.
During their meeting, as an attempt to offer Brazil 5G technology to replace Chinese Huawei, Sullivan talked to Fabio Faria (Brazilian Congressman) about open RAN technologies. They discussed introducing to the Brazilian market US-Based innovative tools for building wireless networks (such as 5G). This move is because Huawei Technologies has been placed on the list of restricted entities, banning it from gaining access to US hardware and Software.
There has been an ongoing debate about the worries brought by Huawei's equipment. The concerns branch across a range of topics, including Beijing's aggressive espionage actives and the trade war between the United States and China.
Bolsonaro, who had a good relationship with former president Trump, followed him in opposing the company due to rumors that information collected from devices in their network was being shared with China's ruling Communist Party and government. However, because China is one of Brazil's most important trading partners, the Brazilian president faced resistance from industry and within his own government.
Switching cooperation with China on 5G would make way for Brazil to NATO global partnership because using communications suppliers deemed as unreliable in Washington does not allow cooperation between Brazil and US on defense and security.

By: Henrique Sampaio
Edited by: Anna Kissajikian