Brazilian foreign policy under President Lula (2003-2010): an overview

Abstract

Foreign Minister of Brazil since 2003, Ambassador Celso Amorim outlines the main guidelines and accomplishments of Brazil's foreign policy under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The article provides a full-fledged, although not exhaustive, narrative of a number of diplomatic initiatives championed by Brazil over the last eight years: from the gathering of the group of developing countries in a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Cancun to the negotiations that led to the Declaration of Tehran, as well as the challenges the country has been facing as its international weight grows.

UNASUR: poder y acción en Suramérica

“…5 Sigla que utilizan algunos académicos como el brasileño Alcides Costa Vaz (2013) y el venezolano José Briceño (2010aBriceño ( , 2010b. geoestratégico tradicional de Brasilia que se habría de consolidar a través de la Comunidad Suramericana de Naciones (CSN) (Amorim, 2010). En 2007, durante la Cumbre Energética de Isla Margarita, en Venezuela, dicho proceso alcanzó un punto muy importante con la creación de la Unasur, una organización internacional integrada por los doce países suramericanos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Uruguay y Venezuela.…”

“…Pero nos parece que es el excanciller brasileño, Celso Amorim (2010), quien mejor describe el papel de Brasil y sus intereses en la región:…”

Construção de Confiança e Transparência Militar na UNASUL: avanços e desafios

“…Entre os principais desafios presentes na literatura sobre o tema estão os seguintes: (1) a incipiente institucionalização do processo (AMORIM, 2010;PAGLIARI, 2009;REZENDE, 2015), (2) Em primeiro lugar, a exigência de consenso no processo decisório do CDS por princípio impõe aos países sul-americanos o desafio de conciliar as suas diferenças de opinião para que o CDS seja efetivo em suas ações, sendo que, por enquanto, não se vislumbra um caráter supranacional. A supranacionalidade não é um requisito para desenvolver a transparência militar, mas a institucionalização da agenda sim, pois esta significaria uma menor dependência da vontade dos governantes diante da necessidade de desenvolver a agenda.…”

Unpacking Brazil’s Leadership in the Global Biofuels Arena: Brazilian Ethanol Diplomacy in Africa

“…It has made extensive use of presidential diplomacy, especially during the term of President Lula (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010), who visited twenty-nine African countries, signing agreements relating to biofuels along the way (Amorim 2010). The selection of countries was exploratory, with no coherent pattern; in almost all visits, Brazil would offer its help and, if the hosts expressed interest, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed.…”

“…Sugarcane is a tropical crop, so sugarcane-based ethanol can only be produced in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America-that is, in countries located in tropical climatic zones similar to those of Brazil. Environmental similarities between the agro-climatic conditions in the African savannahs and the Brazilian cerrado therefore provide a familiar agro-ecological context, which has prompted Brazilian policy-makers to explore the replication of their sugarcane-ethanol model in Africa's savannahs (Amorim 2010). This idea was the driving force behind ethanol diplomacy in Africa during the administration of President Lula, whose prevailing view at the time was that African countries could meet part of their energy needs by imitating Brazil's experience, albeit at a lesser scale.…”