Manaus, 125 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Today president Fernando Henrique Cardoso is in Manaus to inaugurate the Amazon Vigilance System (Sivam), which is part of the Amazon Protection System (SIPAM). More than US$1.4 billion was spent on Sivam, which consists of a monitoring system for the whole Amazon basin region, which besides Brazil, includes parts of Bolivia, Columbia and Peru.

With regard to the Columbian region, the concern is with security and the movement of persons, boats and aircraft along the border with Brazil, which stretches for 1,600 kilometers. It is an area where cocaine is grown.

Peru and Bolivia are concerned with environmental information that Sivam will furnish from data collected by 200 weather and hydrological platforms scattered throughout the region. (AB)