U.S.–Brazil Relations

The Ups and Downs of the Brazil-United States Relations

The Brazil–United States relations have existed for a long period of time. In 1808, after the relocation of the Portuguese royal court to Rio de Janeiro and the opening of the ports to foreign ships, the United States was the first country to set up a consulate in Brazil. Despite the United States and Brazil’s lack of being openly confrontational to one other, relations between these two countries have been fairly cool and distant. That aside, there has still been short phases of cooperation between the two.

Early History

The United States was the first nation to acknowledge Brazil’s independence from Portugal in 1824. The United States recognized the independence of Brazil with hopes of weakening European influence. The United States had the intention of establishing a Pan-American, anti-European economic bloc. This would greatly affect European and Brazilian trade. In terms of military, the U.S. also attempted to establish a Pan-American army that would be comprised of strictly U.S. military. Its goal would be to defend the Americas from European interventionism.

Brazil and Argentina were very against these plans. This is because both countries had a strong trade relationship with Europe and would have suffered from such a closed economic bloc. They were also very opposed to the military plan the United States created. The United States reacted to both countries’ resistance by putting tariffs on Brazilian latex exports to the United States. Relations between the two countries after this points varied greatly in the midst of World War II and when Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas was in power.

Post-Cold War

The 1980s brought about great tension in American-Brazilian relations due to economic problems. In 1990, President Collor wanted a quick establishment of harmonious relations with the United States after taking office. He did this to begin a hard-hitting policy in order to bring Brazil into the world economy. The Franco administration remained quite independent and responded coldly to proposals by the Clinton administration in regards to a Latin American free-trade zone.

The United States relations with the Cardoso government (1995–2003) were successful. Cardoso visited Washington and New York in 1995 and the Clinton administration was very eager regarding the passage of constitutional amendments that opened the Brazilian economy. This greatly enhanced worldwide involvement.

Current issues

On March 14, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met for the first time in Washington. During this meeting, they discussed the economy, energy, the environment, and the custody case of a US boy taken to Brazil. He was a great admirer of Brazil and the leadership that President Lula has provided. He also said that the two countries currently had a very strong friendship.