5.11.2005

Brazil's Ambitions

Andres Oppenheimer's recent column in the Miami Herald accuses Brazil of throwing its weight around in regards to regional diplomacy. Oppenheimer claims that Brazil was the key player in getting Miguel Insulza elected to Secretary General of the OAS and that it has alienated Mexico through its use of the newly created South American Community of Nations:

While Latin American countries often discussed their regional problems within the Group of Rio, a Latin America-wide diplomatic group in which Mexico played a leading role, Brazil now prefers to conduct its foreign policy through the South America-only group.
Oppenheimer then points out Argentina's frustration with Brazil's ambitions in acquiring important world diplomatic posts:

''If there is a job opening at the World Trade Organization, Brazil wants it. If there is a space at the United Nations, Brazil wants it. If there is a job at the U.N. Food and Agriculture organization, Brazil wants it. They even wanted a Brazilian pope,'' Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was reportedly heard saying, according to the Argentine daily Clarín.
Oppenheimer warns that this diplomacy could become dangerous:

My conclusion: Brazil may need to offer Amazon parrots, and maybe much more, to its neighbors. Otherwise, politicians in neighboring countries will step up their nationalist rhetoric and revive old-time rivalries, which in many cases need only a small rhetorical spark to become passionate public causes.

Here is where I beg to differ. I believe that Brazil should, like other large Southern countries such as India, be as ambitious as possible when it comes to important posts at the UN and in other diplomatic settings. Brazil's diligence in organizing the South American-Arab Nations Summit in Brasilia represents a new form of outreach to the rest of the world which I believe is necessary in today's (to quote Tom Friedman) "flat world." While Larry Rohter's article in today's New York Times criticizes the effectiveness of the summit, Brazil must continue to use its stature as the largest Latin American nation in order to narrow economic and political ties to the rest of the world, independent of the G8 countries.

Comments:
Christian,

I agree with you that Brazil should try to be as influential as possible on a global level -- especially considering that Brazil is Latin America's biggest nation.

There are only four Third World countries whose voices resonate on a global level: Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the so-called BRIC nations).

I have a litmus test for a Third World country's power: the American visa test.

Let me explain:

In some countries (e.g. Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, etc.), American citizens can enter without a visa; they just need a passport. They can enter visa-less despite the fact that Costa Ricans, Mexicans, and Argentines need visas to visit to the United States.

Brazil, India, Russia, and China are countries that demand that American citizens have visa. They demand this because they have reciprocal systems. Americans demand that Brazilians pay $100 for a tourist visa -- so the Brazilians do the same to American citizens (in addition to the photographing and fingerprinting at the airport). While the Indians do not fingerprint, they ask for the same amount that the U.S. asks for.

Mexico and Costa Rica, for example, are two countries that are completely dependent on American tourism and cannot afford to have reciprocity with the United States.

Brazil, India, China, and Russia can afford to have reciprocity with the US and this says something.

On a different note, most educated Indians consider Brazil a very important country on a global level. Argentina is not considered as such.
 
Apparently the Brazilians also want the top job at the IADB... And Joao Sayad the current Vice President of Operations would be the candidate when Enrique Iglesias leaves supposedly in October.
 
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