The democratic regime and the changes in Brazilian foreign policy towards South America

Abstract

In recent times the interaction between democracy and foreign policy has begun to be studied and theorized in Brazil. The link between politics and foreign policy is not new, however, the focus of this article is on the shifts that have taken place since t he beginning of the democratic regime. Its aim is to identify changes in Brazilian foreign policy based on ideas and political preferences due to alternation of governments; and deconstruct the idea that Brazilian foreign policy is a state policy, limited to superficial changes. Following a discussion of the recent literature about changes in foreign policy, the article maps the changes that occurred between 1990 and 2003 and analyses Brazilian foreign policy behavior towards South America during the Worker's Party administrations. Based on a comparative perspective, it examines the changes in Brazilian behavior toward the region during the Temer administration. This was the area where foreign policy experienced strongest transformations. Finally, the article briefly points out the changes that occurred in foreign policy towards South America at the beginning of Bolsonaro's administration. The methodology, especially in relation to the Temer and Bolsonaro administrations, uses press material and interviews with foreign policymakers.

Crisis in South American regionalism and Brazilian protagonism in Unasur, the Lima Group and Prosur

“…However, in the current period, Brazilian actions toward regionalism should be analyzed according to Jair Bolsonaro's right-wing ideological biases and his alignment to the US (Saraiva 2020). Unlike previous decades, Brazilian diplomacy has not been able to contribute to converging stances in moments of crisis in the region.…”

“…He named Ernesto Araújo as the Foreign Minister and diplomats who shared these same believes to key positions in Itamaraty. The main episodes of his foreign policy that express these changes are the attempt to move the Brazilian Embassy to Jerusalem, the refusal to condemn the Cuban embargo, tensions with China (its main trade partner), withdrawal from the Global Pact on Migration and criticisms of Paris Agreement (Saraiva 2020).…”

“…Political fragmentation refers to the fragmentation of regional organizations due to political shifts and the absence of consensus between countries regarding the purposes of regional institutions. These phenomena are leveraged by Brazil's declining protagonism (Caballero & Crescentino 2020;Saraiva 2020), with notable effects in regional governance bodies (Vaz et al 2017;Mijares 2020).…”

“…These analyses point out the role of Brazilian foreign policy in constructing Unasur and its broad and ambitious agenda, which also consolidated its protagonism in South America. Nevertheless, it experienced a downfall from 2011 onwards, especially after the rise of Michel Temer to the presidency (following Dilma Rousseff 's impeachment) and the nomination of José Serra (2016)(2017) as Foreign Minister led to the constructed narrative that the Labor Party's (PT) foreign policy was ideological (Saraiva 2020). This was manifested in the criticism toward Unasur and the countries that condemned the impeachment process, as well as in the joint actions with Argentina and Paraguay to suspend Venezuela from Mercosur in 2016.…”

“…This was manifested in the criticism toward Unasur and the countries that condemned the impeachment process, as well as in the joint actions with Argentina and Paraguay to suspend Venezuela from Mercosur in 2016. Such tensions were intensified in the subsequent government (Saraiva 2020).…”