The Interim Government External Politics and the Risks to the Regional Integration

Abstract

This article provides a historical reconstruction of Foreign Minister José Serra’s three first months in office, a period that corresponds to the interim presidency of Michel Temer. It draws upon some public declarations made by the minister or by Itamaraty, as well as on analyses published in the press. We argue that the shift in Brazilian foreign policy has two major characteristics: (1) its strong rhetorical turn, aimed at deconstructing the “diplomatic legacy” of the Workers’ Party and at confronting regional critics of the impeachment process; (2) a structural change, both in the Foreign Ministry’s institutional design and in the axis of Brazilian foreign policy orientation, so as to strengthen the minister’s public visibility in the context of the 2018 presidential race. In the medium term, the sum of all such elements may put the regional integration process in jeopardy, inasmuch as intra-Mercosur relations are redefined and as the government adopts a strategy of confrontation towards countries facing institutional crises, such as Venezuela.

Keywords

• política externa brasileira
• interino
• temer
• integração regional