Brazil: A New Afro-Asian Policy and Its Reversal
Minter, Bill
[Note: the following article is excerpted from a manuscript on U.S. policy and Portuguese colonialism entitled African Liberation and American Foreign Policy.] Brazil has the largest population of...
...In 1967 a Brazilian naval squadron was sent on a training mission to Angola...
...Their dream is for a South Atlantic Treaty Organization, to protect the two sides of the southern ocean from the dangers of "communist aggression...
...Marcelo Caetano succeeded in obtaining pledges of commercial and cultural exchanges, and presumably the military visits will continue as well, but he failed to get any specific military commitment...
...FOOTNOTES: 1. Textos e Declaracoes Sobre Politica Externa, Ministerio das Relacoes Exteriores, Brazil...
...In September, 1966, a portuguese-Brazilian agreement facilitated trans-shipment of goods between South Africa and Brazil through ports of Portuguese Africa...
...de Janeiro...
...The Latin American bloc is an important one in the United Nations and it is interesting to note that several of its members abstained on the recent General Assembly resolution condemning the Republic for non-compliance with the United Nations' sanctions against Rhodesia...
...continued from page 14) Now South Africa and Portugal have joined forces to push closer cooperation in the South Atlantic...
...In 1966 a visit by the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, prompted return trade missions and appearances by Brazil and Argentina at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg...
...Relations were opened up with the countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa...
...Even now, if the Brazilian government were sympathetic, students from Angola and Mozambique could be sent to secondary schools and universities in Brazil -- as it is, students sent overseas by the liberation movements must learn yet another non-African language before beginning their studies in English, or French, or Russian...
...Muller has expressed satisfaction with the similar attitude towards Communism taken by the Republic and by these states...
...But the joint communique on the occasion of his visit made no reference to the armed struggle against Portugal in Guinea-Bissau...
...For example, facilitating communications and tourism: there is the recently agreed Johannesburg - Rio - New York air service...
...Roux, the Chairman of the South African Atomic Energy Board and the Board's Chief Metallurgist, Dr...
...The Ambassador talked of selfdetermination, but the example he gave was Germany and its reunification, not Africa...
...Perhaps more important in the determination of post-World War II foreign policy was simply the tendency to follow without question the United States or the Western European powers on major international issues, including votes in the UN on colonialism...
...It is true that Brazil's policy vis-a-vis Portuguese Africa was still marked by ambiguity, much as was that of the United States...
...And Varig, Brazil's international flagship airline, has just inaugurated (June 21, 1970) a weekly service to South Africa: Rio - Johannesburg - Luanda - Rio...
...Finally, and perhaps most important, the Republic can learn from South America how the Monroe Doctrine operates...
...The reason lies partly in Brazil's traditional ties of friendship with Portugal, but also in the story of a new foreign policy aborted by the American-backed coup of 1964...
...They said Cuba had curried AfroAsian votes by distributing copies of articles about an exchange of defense contracts between Argentina and South Africa, which is strongly in disfavor here...
...President Castello Branco, in his news conference of October 30, 1964, commented specifically on policy towards Portugal's "overseas provinces": Brazil, although reaffirming its position on the subject of self-determination, will emphasize its conviction that Portugal will know how to solve its problems in the spirit of its historic traditions, traditions that presided over the formation of the Brazilian national soul and gave form to the type of multiracial society that is dominant in Brazil...
...In the future of Portuguese-speaking Africa, it could be of great importance...
...Since 1965 Portugal's persuasive efforts have been joined by South African initiatives in Latin America...
...Pienaar, visited the Argentine and Brazil to discuss "nuclear energy matters of common concern...
...The confidence of Brazil in the civilizing mission of Portugal thus derives from the consideration of concrete facts, confirmed by sociology and history.' Addressing the United Nations in December, 1964, the Brazilian Ambassador lauded peaceful decolonization, and condemned those who would inject violence in the process...
...Brazil's gestures towards "independence" were cut off, and now the solidarity in the South Atlantic is for repression, not liberation...
...It is rumored that Argentina lost its seat on the U.N...
...The trend towards closer solidarity with Africa and Asia was reversed...
...Z The naval visits continue, and 1969 saw the first visit in decades of a Portuguese Premier to Brazil...
...The admiral in charge noted that "we are deeply shocked that a war is being waged against Portugal in her overseas territories...
...The late Field-Marshal Smuts advocated the adoption of such a doctrine for Southern Africa, with the Republic standing in the place of the United States, in order to guarantee the independence of the smaller states in the area against the aspirations of overseas powers...
...Development Program to an African and Arab attempt to punish Argentina...
...2. Africa Confidential, March 17, 1967...
...There is also a common interest in the defence of the South Atlantic and nuclear development, and Dr...
...Brazil voted in 1962 for UN General Assembly resolution 1742, which condemned Portugal for its actions in Angola...
...The possibilities for fruitful cooperation of Brazil with Angola and Mozambique, should they gain their independence, are quite large...
...It is true that embassies were maintained in African countries, and possibilities for commercial ties continued to be explored...
...Their ambiguity is much like that of the United States on the same issues...
...Robert H. Estabrook in the June 7, 1969 Washington Post...
...continued on page 17) - 17 - tract -- part of a R35 million mining project in Chile - had been awarded to Roberts Construction Company, which is to provide the tunnelling techniques and the team of specialists to supervise the work by locally recruited labour...
...They are wooing Brazil and Argentina with closer trade, tourism, and military consultation...
...That same year Brazil even voted against the General Assembly's resolution on sanctions against South Africa, maintaining that, in contrast to the Cuban case, the South African situation was purely an internal problem...
...We will do everything we can for Portugal which is the victim of a great injustice...
...The idea of Brazil as participant and leader in the Third World was a compelling vision...
...policy and Portuguese colonialism entitled African Liberation and American Foreign Policy.] Brazil has the largest population of any country in Latin America, and the largest population of speakers of Portuguese in the world...
...But so far at least Brazil and Argentina, however reactionary they may be, are still reluctant to enter into any open alliance with the explicit racism of South Africa, or to get heavily involved in Portugal's colonial wars...
...Although used as an example by Portugal of "assimilation," its political independence from the mother country dates back to 1822...
...4. For more on Brazil and Africa see: Brazil and Africa, Jose Honorio Rodrigues, University of California Press, 1969 (originally published in Portuguese by Civilizacao Brasileira...
...Articles and books appeared about the new "independent" foreign policy...
...The line is the same as that followed by the United States...
...COMMON INTERESTS The Republic's relations with South America have other implications...
...Although the talk is of the South Atlantic, the policy is still quite congruent with the North American lead...
...They too have suffered from incursions of Communist-trained terrorists, such as the rebel leader Che Guevara, in Bolivia...
...Tourism is to be further encouraged by the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth II, stopping in Luanda, Capetown, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro...
...The first significant break with this general line came with the brief regime of Janio Quadros, and was continued by his successor Joao Goulart...
...The admiral made the statement in Launda on Feb...
...Brazil's beginning attempts to move into solidarity with the Third World, and to abandon automatic adherence to the Western bloc, were cut off...
...In 1969 joint exercises by the South African and Argentine navies, combined with a trip to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires by the South African Foreign Minister, prompted renewed speculation about a South Atlantic Treaty Organization...
...Trade and investment ties are also likely to increase somewhat, although the Southern African and Latin American economies tend to be competitive rather than complementary...
...The ties that existed between Portugal and Brazil after Brazil's independence were less ones of economic interdependence than they were cultural and sentimental...
...Angolans studying in Brazil were harassed by the Portuguese secret police...
...But the ties with Portugal were under serious question, the automatic dependence on American policy was rejected, and there seemed to be some possibilities for further changes...
...3. "Latin American diplomats attributed the surprising election of Cuba to the governing council of the U.N...
...African studies programs languished or concentrated almost exclusively on folklore...
...Portugal has continued to play on the theme of the Luso-Brazilian community...
...Portuguese immigrants came to Brazil, but for the most part they were not the influential kind -- Brazil has its "Portuguese" jokes just as the United States has its jokes about Poles or other immigrants...
...And the next year Foreign Minister Nogueira of Portugal visited Brazil to discuss plans for closer Brazilian-Portuguese cooperation...
...Development Program to Cuba because of the annoyance of the African bloc at these developments The South African Airways flight established between New York and Johannesburg passes through Rio Last year Dr...
...8, 1967...
...The break with Portugal on voting did not extend to support for more serious action by the United Nations...
...The military coup of 1964, followed in hours by congratulations from Washington, marked a reversal not only in Brazil's domestic policies, but also in the stance taken on the world scene...
...In 1965 South Africa participated in a Latin American Development Bank project in Ecuador, following up in 1968 with purchases of bonds from the IADB...
...But such ties with African nationalists do not now exist...
...Brazil moved back to a position of "interdependence," interdependence, that is, within the Western bloc...
...President Senghor of Senegal even visited Brazil after the '64 coup...
...the study of Africa and Asia grew by leaps and bounds...
...In the same month the same company completed its share of tunnelling and excavation work at the Cerro de Pasco Corporation's Cabriza Mine in Peru, a share valued at R28 million...
...Military ties on the level of joint training exercises can also be expected to continue...
...Scholarships were arranged for African students, and several visits by Brazilian dignitaries to independent African states were arranged...
...The ties were close, and affirmed especially by those who made Brazil's foreign policy, but they could not be regarded as vitally important for Brazil...
Vol. 4 • September 1970 • No. 5
