Oscilaciones en las relaciones Brasil-España: entre el pragmatismo económico y el desconocimiento mutuo

Abstract

In this paper political relations between Spain and Brazil are tackled from a foreign policy historical approach, understanding foreign policy as a public policy shaped by negotiations among different actors, and seeking to satisfy citizens’ wellbeing. In order to analyze the current ties between Brasilia and Madrid and thanks to a historical tour of these relations, firstly we dive into the nature and main features throughout the last decades. Afterwards, the corresponding foreign policy perspectives from both chanceries (Palacio de Santa Cruz and Itamaraty) are added, framing them within their own regional processes. This enables us to highlight the contextual and structural constraints that shape the room of manoeuvre to act at the international level. Furthermore, the current bilateral scenario is dissected and, finally, some conclusions are drawn in order to shed light to accurately interpret this bilateral relationship, based on a strong divergence between the agents designing both foreign policies respectively.