Brazil “deeply suspicious,” prone to conspiracy theories about U.S. intentions
Under the administration of President Luiz Inacío Lula da Silva, Brazil has taken its foreign policy game to the next level. In Latin America, that’s meant nothing short of a transformation — from a big-but-not-impressive country to a genuine regional hegemon. In fact, these days, Brasilia sees Washington as a threat to its growing influence ...
Under the administration of President Luiz Inacío Lula da Silva, Brazil has taken its foreign policy game to the next level. In Latin America, that's meant nothing short of a transformation -- from a big-but-not-impressive country to a genuine regional hegemon. In fact, these days, Brasilia sees Washington as a threat to its growing influence in Latin America.
Under the administration of President Luiz Inacío Lula da Silva, Brazil has taken its foreign policy game to the next level. In Latin America, that’s meant nothing short of a transformation — from a big-but-not-impressive country to a genuine regional hegemon. In fact, these days, Brasilia sees Washington as a threat to its growing influence in Latin America.
A Dec. 12, 2009, backgrounder cable highlights that mistrust:
Within South America, Brazil sees the United States as a competitor and remains deeply suspicious of our motives and intentions. Although the notion that the United States harbors plans to invade or internationalize the Amazon or to seize Brazil’s offshore oil may seem preposterous to Americans, concerns about such plans surface regularly among senior Brazilian officials, academics, and journalists, and are only the most outlandish manifestation of generalized mistrust and insecurity with regard to the United States presence in the region.
This shouldn’t be terribly surprising. As the cable notes, Washington faces "significant historical baggage in the way Brazil’s foreign policy establishment views the United States." After decades of Cold War meddling (and coup-coddling) — from Nicaragua and Guatemala in the north to Chile in the south — the United States is still struggling to prove that it really respects the region’s democratic choices, whether they go against U.S. interests or not.
Brazil, therefore, is "careful to avoid any suggestion that it is toeing a U.S. line, is intent on avoiding situations in which it might be perceived as a junior partner, and tends to see an ‘independent’ position [for itself]," according to the cable. "Nor does Brazil want to be lumped in with the mass of developing countries. In multilateral settings, Brazil prefers to position itself as a ‘bridge’ between the wealthy and developing nations." That’s why, the cable argues, Brazil tends to align itself with countries like Turkey, South Africa, China, and India.
There’s one interesting exception, however, to Brazil’s anti-Western approach: France. As another cable aptly titled "France and Brazil: Start of a Love Affair" puts it:
Having first met in 2007, Brazilian embassy contacts in Paris described the initial bilateral meeting as the "start of the love affair" where Sarkozy and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discovered that they shared "a vision of a new multilateralism" in global governance and the view of Brazil as a vast market and regional platform for France. Sarkozy has often remarked that the two agree on a "near totality of issues," including economic recovery, climate change, and security. Brazilian diplomats noted that the two men have very similar personalities and that Lula has often commented that looking at Sarkozy is like "looking in the mirror."
Hard to say who that comparison flatters.
Elizabeth Dickinson is International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Colombia.
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