An eye on the Amazon
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05/12/2001
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International Herald Tribune (Bangkok)
Last month Brazil inaugurated a high-tech radar system to keep watch on Amazon jungle. The American-financed $1.4 billion Amazon Vigilance System will help catch drug smugglers and detect incursions by Colombia's guerrillas. But it was originally conceived and designed for environmental protection, and can still be key tool in combating deforestation and illegal mining. The system, however is only as the information it provides -and there the record is worrisome. (Editorial)