In 1823, after the recognition of the independence of Brazil and the sending of documents and representatives to Rio de Janeiro, diplomatic relations between Argentina (United Provinces) and the neighboring country began, which today have a strategic nature.
However, the story has multiple moments of tension and conflict. In the past, territorial disputes have arisen during the process of formation of States, competition for spheres of influence, hypotheses of conflict between the Armed Forces and even disagreements resulting from commercial asymmetries.
However, in the midst of these periods of tension, there have also been moments in which both countries have sought to strengthen cooperation and even enhance it. An example of this is the ABC Pact of 1915, promoted by José Maria da Silva Paranhos, known as the Baron of Rio Branco. This agreement was raised as one of the pillars for the union and friendship between the South American countries. Another initiative with the same name, related to the economic union, was promoted by Juan D. Perón through the Santiago Act, although it did not achieve the successful adhesion of Brazil while Getulio Vargas was in the presidency. In addition, the Uruguayana agreements between Joao Goulart and Arturo Frondizi are another representative case of these steps.
Little by little, the hypotheses of conflict and mistrust gave way to cooperative relations and the signing of agreements that built an important relationship of political dialogue and economic cooperation. In this sense, the agreements established in the 1980s between Presidents Raúl Alfonsín and José Sarney represented a historic milestone, since they promoted the signing of various instruments in different areas: the Iguazú Declaration, the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Policy, the Buenos Aires Act for Argentine-Brazilian Integration, the Integration, Cooperation and Development Treaty, among others. These agreements laid the foundations of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), which was established in 1991.
Starting from MERCOSUR, Argentina and Brazil were not only able to increase bilateral trade (to date the largest trade relationship in quantitative terms between Latin American countries and with the largest intra-industrial trade) but also the bloc gradually contributed to cooperation in other matters such as the democratic commitment, political agreement and the declaration of MERCOSUR as a Zone of Peace and Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In a more recent stage, the political affinity at the beginning of the century between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Néstor Kirchner since the Buenos Aires Consensus, in 2003, and the relaunching of the Mercosur bloc, contrasted especially with the arrival of Jair Bolsonaro to the Planalto Palace, putting the Argentine-Brazilian strategic association in one of its most delicate moments , pressing for the liberalization of the block understood in the reduction of the common external tariff and the possibility of signing agreements individually (a position also especially defended by the presidency of Lacalle Pou).
It is true that in commercial economic matters, the bloc has large outstanding debts, such as achieving a complete customs union and advancing towards the common market, which would make it possible to generate economies of scale, productive integration and the formation of useful regional value chains in the face of possible adverse effects of the international economy. Likewise, the last decades, although they positioned China as one of the main commercial partners of both countries, this affected the Argentine-Brazilian commercial relationship since the Asian country burst with the presence of industrial products of medium and high technological value, displacing in both markets the presence of the regional partner.
Beyond the ups and downs, the turbulences, the unfulfilled tasks, the tangos and the sambas, from a peripheral region and impacted by the harmful effects that geopolitics and international economics have had and have, it is essential to question how to position oneself in the face of regrouping of global power: the Argentine-Brazilian relationship continues to represent an inescapable link. In a world hierarchy of rivalries and zero sum, With a more risky and costly globalization, where interdependence has become a matter of security and de-risking strategies are being proposed in different regional blocs, Argentine-Brazilian productive complementarity becomes essential for the construction of a common market. The effects of climate change, food crises and slower global growth highlight the importance of Argentina and Brazil among the world’s leading grain producers.
The multiple and complex existing challenges, such as the rise of Asia, the inter-hegemonic disputes in our region, the fall in the price of raw materials, among others, position integration as a fundamental element for the autonomy of both countries. Argentina and Brazil will be better prepared if they follow this path together. Building the future is today.
Director of the Master’s Degree in International Relations at the Universidad del Salvador
Source: Ambito
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