Hacia la modernidad: as políticas externas do Brasil e do México no começo da década de 1990

Abstract

Brazil and Mexico are the two largest countries in Latin America in economic and population terms, however both countries have weaknesses considering their international performance and bilateral relations with the great powers. The two countries have had similar trajectories in the national affirmation of their foreign policies. They used the legal aspect to preserve their sovereignty and strengthen the construction of their national state, both countries have used foreign policy to mediate conflicts in their surrounding geographic areas and began to influence their regional borders in a cautious way with a "non-hegemonic" discourse. Initially, the beginning of the decade of 1960 is considered a period of re foundation of the bilateral relations between the two countries. The process of national development based on industrialization in both countries, which lasted for much of the twentieth century, eventually collapsed in the 1980s. The political-economic influences of liberalism in international relations, determined a change of direction in the developmental process of the two countries. The election of Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1988 and Fernando Collor de Mello in 1989 gave new directions to the economy and international relations for both countries. This paper aims to analyze how these new directions contributed to the changes in foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico, their core changes, convergences and divergences pointed out by foreign policies of the two countries during the period analyzed. For this comparative historical research, a descriptive, informative and explanatory methodology is used with the use of primary and secondary sources, as well as magazines and newspapers of the period analyzed. Regarding the positions adopted by foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico for Latin America in the early 1990s, it was observed that Mexico opted for a policy of low engagement in Latin American affairs, especially in Central America (its area of Influence), while Brazil opted for a policy of greater engagement in the region - especially in South America. As for the relationship with North America, the two countries indicated a stronger approach. However, the reciprocity of this approach was easier to observe in the Mexican case, with a high profile in the relationship with the United States, derived, in particular, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).