Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? Foreign Policy and Internationalization of Capitals in Brazil under the Government of “Lula” Da Silva

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship between foreign policy and internationalization of capital in Brazil under the Governments of “Lula” Da Silva (2003-2010). One of the central concerns of the paper is to explicate how it has developed this relationship in specific cases. While it is true that there was an overlap of interests among Brazilian companies that made investments abroad with the interest of Brazil´s foreign policy, the analysis of a series of bilateral relations of Brazil allows us to clarify that usually one of the variables come first and being functional for the interests of the other