The National Defense Council (CDN) is a consultative body of the President

President of Brazil

The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...

 of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 on matters of national security

National security

National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...

, foreign policy

Foreign policy

A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...

, and defence strategy. The Council was established on 29 November 1927 by President Washington Luís. It is composed of key ministers

Cabinet of Brazil

The Cabinet of Brazil is composed of the Ministers of State and senior advisors of the executive branch of the federal government of Brazil. Cabinet officers are appointed and dismissed by the President. There are currently twenty-four Ministries of State and fourteen other cabinet-level...

 and military commanders and chaired by the President of Brazil.

History

The National Defense Council was established by Decree no. 17,999 of 29 November 1927, and organized by Decree no. 23,873 of 15 February 1934. It was chaired by the President and composed of several ministers

Ministry (government department)

A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...

, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Navy and in wartime, by generals and admirals of certain commands. It had as complementary organs, the National Defense Studies Commission, the General Secretariat of National Defense, and national defense sectors in every government ministry.

The role of the National Defense Council was reaffirmed with the promulgation of the Constitution of 1934. In the portion devoted to national security (Article 162), the National Defense Council was renamed National Security Council. The decree-law no. 900 of 29 September 1969, amended some provisions of decree-law no. 200, and the National Security Council became the "highest-level advisory board to the president of the Republic, in formulating and implementing national security policy". In September 1980, a presidential decree established the internal regulations of the CSN.

The new Constitution

Constitution of Brazil

During its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.-Imperial Constitution :Background...

 ratified in 1988, renamed the National Security Council to National Defense Council.

Responsibilities

The National Defense Council is responsible for advising the President in the event of declaring war

Declaration of war

A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...

 or establishing peace

Peace treaty

A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...

, in decree

Decree

A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

ing state of defense

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

, state of siege

State of War

State of war may refer to:*a situation where two or more states are at war with each other, with or without a real armed conflict*State of War , a book by James Risen which makes numerous controversial allegations about Central Intelligence Agency activities*State of War , a real-time strategy...

 or federal intervention

Federal intervention

Federal intervention is an attribution of the federal government of Argentina, by which it takes control of a province in certain extreme cases. Intervention is declared by the President with the assent of the National Congress...

; and proposing the criteria and conditions for use of the areas essential to the security of national territory and opine on their effective use, especially in the border and matters related to the preservation and exploitation of natural resource

Natural resource

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....

s of any kind; as well as studying, proposing and monitoring the development of measures required to guarantee national independence

Self-determination

Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...

 and defense of democratic State.

The Council draws up crucial documents defining conceptual approaches to national security. Regular meetings of the Council are held according to a schedule set by the President; if necessary, the Council can hold extraordinary meetings. The Chairman defines the agenda and order of the day based on recommendations by the Executive Secretary of the Council. The Chairman presides over meetings, while the Secretary holds working meetings with Council members on a regular basis.

Composition

The National Defense Council is headed by the President of Brazil and composed of the following members:

Structure of the National Defense Council (Current)
Chair	Dilma Vana Rousseff (President of Brazil President of Brazil The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces... )
Executive Secretary	José Elito Carvalho Siqueira (Minister of Institutional Security)
Statutory Members	Michel Temer Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia , better known as Michel Temer, is a Brazilian lawyer and politician, and currently the Vice-President of Brazil after winning on the ticket of Workers' Party candidate Dilma Rousseff...  (Vice President of Brazil Vice-President of Brazil The Vice President of Brazil is the second-highest ranking government official in the executive branch of the Government of Brazil after the President... ) Marco Maia Marco Maia Marco Aurélio Spall Maia, better known as Marco Maia , is a Brazilian politician, and the current President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil. He is on a third consecutive term as Federal Deputy for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A metalworker and union leader by trade, Maia joined the Workers'...  (President of the Chamber of Deputies Chamber of Deputies of Brazil The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms... ) José Sarney José Sarney José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian lawyer, writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990....  (President of the Senate Senate of Brazil The Federal Senate of Brazil is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States... ) Celso Amorim Celso Amorim Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim is a Brazilian diplomat who has been Minister of Defence since August 2011. Amorim was the Minister of Foreign Relations from 1993 to 1995 under President Itamar Franco and again from 2003 to 2011 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Before his appointment by Lula,...  (Minister of Defense Ministry of Defence (Brazil) The Ministry of Defence of Brazil, is the civilian cabinet organization responsible for managing the Military of Brazil. It is headed by the Minister of Defence.... ) José Eduardo Cardozo (Minister of Justice) Antônio Patriota Antonio Patriota Antonio de Aguiar Patriota is a Brazilian diplomat and current Minister of External Relations, succeeding Chancellor Celso Amorim...  (Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of External Relations (Brazil) The Ministry of External Relations conducts Brazil's foreign relations with other countries. It is commonly referred to in Brazilian media and diplomatic jargon as the Itamaraty, after the palace which hosts the ministry... ) Miriam Belchior (Minister of Planning and Budget)
Military Advisors	Adm. Júlio Soares de Moura Neto Júlio Soares de Moura Neto Admiral Júlio Soares de Moura Neto is the current Commander of the Brazilian Navy. He assumed his current assignment on March 1, 2007.-External links:*...  (Navy Commander Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America... ) Gen. Enzo Martins Peri Enzo Martins Peri General Enzo Martins Peri is the current Brazilian Army commander. He assumed his current assignment on March 8, 2007.-Biography:General Enzo was born in Rio de Janeiro in Abril 11th, 1941 and begun his military career in February 1960, when he entered the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras...  (Army Commander Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ... ) Lt. Brig. Juniti Saito Juniti Saito Juniti Saito is a military officer and the current commander of Brazilian Air Force.The son of Japanese immigrants Iwataro Saito and Toshike Tamaoki, Lieutenant-Brigadier Saito is the first Japanese-Brazilian to reach the highest rank in a branch of the Brazilian Military.In 2010, Saito signed an...  (Air Force Commander Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"... )
Additional Participants	The President may appoint additional participants when appropriate.