The Brazilian Ricardo Augusto Ferreira Costa Neves will be Commander of MONUSCO. Lieutenant Colonel Costa Neves has a career of over 30 years. In addition, he has previous experience with the Peace Forces, having served as a Military Observer at the UN Verification Mission in Angola. He succeeds Lieutenant Colonel Elias Rodrigues Martins Filho, also a Brazilian, who completed his term on October 31.
Offical Website: https://monusco.unmissions.org/en
MONUSCO was established in August 1999 as a force to monitor the ceasefire signed between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a rebel group and five regional states. The mission currently has 17,000 military personnel from various continents, as well as police, civilians and humanitarian agents.
Director of Evaluation and Promotion at the Brazilian Army Command since late 2018, Costa Neves has had a distinguished military career for over three decades, including the Military Academy Command, where he was responsible for training and educating young officers. He previously served as Command of the 17th Forest Infantry Brigade (2015-2017) and Command of the 62nd Infantry Battalion (2008-2010). He is a graduate at the Escola Superior de Guerra, a Institute for Advanced Studies in Politics, Defense and Strategy, member of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense.