The Argentina–Brazil relationship (; ) is both close and historical, and encompasses the economy, trade, culture, education, and tourism.Useful Guide for Brazilians Argentina – Official Promotion Portal for Argentina. Retrieved on 28 November 2010. From war and rivalry to friendship and alliance, this complex relationship has spanned more than two centuries. The countries also share a system of government, a federal republic with a presidential system.
Rio de Janeiro was the first capital to recognize Argentine independence, whereas Buenos Aires' was the first government to recognize Brazil's independence.http://www.itamaraty.gov.br/images/ficha_pais/artigo-argentina.pdf Argentina, primeiro país a reconhecer a independência do Brasil – Rodrigo Wiese Randig After achieving independence from the Iberian crowns in the early nineteenth century, Argentina and Brazil inherited a series of unresolved territorial disputes from their colonial powers. The most serious breach in the relationship was the Cisplatine War (1825–1828), led by the Brazilian invasion and annexation of the Banda Oriental. Despite the numerous periods of muted hostility, the Argentine–Brazilian relationship was not defined by open hostility for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There was competition on many levels, and their respective defense policies reflected mutual suspicion, but the Brazilian economic rise in the 1980s led to the accommodation of Argentina as a secondary regional power and increasing cooperation.
With the creation of the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials in 1991, the two countries turned their nuclear competition into cooperation through mutual confidence.Brazil and Argentina's Nuclear Cooperation Carnegie Endowment. Retrieved on 28 November 2010. A high volume of trade and migration between Argentina and Brazil has generated closer ties, especially after the implementation of Mercosur in 1991.Argentina: Rudderless Lugar, Richard G. Report: Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate. Retrieved on 28 November 2010.
Overview
Argentine Republic Federative Republic of Brazil Coat of Arms Flag Population 46,735,004 213,421,037 Area Population Density Capital Buenos Aires Brasília Largest City Buenos Aires – 3,121,707 (16,366,641 Metro) São Paulo – 11,895,578 (21,518,955 Metro) Government Federal presidential constitutional republic Federal presidential constitutional republic First Leader Bernardino Rivadavia Pedro I Current Leaders Javier Milei Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Official languages Spanish (de facto) Portuguese GDP (nominal) US$683.533 billion ($14,362 per capita) US$2.126 trillion ($9,964 per capita)
History
Independence and consolidation
Argentina and Brazil share the Río de la Plata basin– an area where Portuguese and Spanish conquistadors collided in their ambition to conquer new land for their respective crowns. After achieving independence from the Iberian crowns in the early nineteenth century, the Argentine Republic and the Brazilian Empire inherited a series of unresolved territorial disputes from their colonial powers, involving Paraguay and Uruguay, the other two nations of the Río de la Plata basin.
It was during this time that the Cisplatine War, the first armed conflict between both countries, started. From 1825 to 1828 the forces of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata outfought those of the Brazilian Empire, until the signing of the Treaty of Montevideo that gave independence to Uruguay from both countries. Given the high cost of the war for both sides and the burdens it imposed on trade between the United Provinces and the United Kingdom, the latter pressed the two belligerent parties to engage in peace negotiations in Rio de Janeiro. Under British and French mediation, the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil signed the 1828 Treaty of Montevideo, which acknowledged the independence of the Cisplatine Province under the name Eastern Republic of Uruguay. Troops of both countries would face each other once again later, during the Platine War, when a coalition of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentine rebels managed to defeat Rosas (helped in turn by Uruguayan rebels led by Manuel Oribe). Another war almost happened during the 1870s when Brazil refused to accept Argentina's desire to take all the Chaco region for itself after the end of the Paraguayan War (also known as the War of the Triple Alliance) when both countries were allies against Paraguay.
Brazil did not settle disputes with Argentina over its precise national boundaries until the early twentieth century. It had settled with Uruguay in 1851, with Peru in 1851 and 1874, with Colombia in 1853, with Venezuela in 1859, with Bolivia in 1867 and with Paraguay in 1872,Vainfas, Ronaldo. Dicionário do Brasil Imperial. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2002, p. 302 but not with Argentina, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname. However, it had consolidated most of its vast territory under a single authority by the middle of the nineteenth century, achieved as the result of the work of the empire's political elite. In contrast, the Argentine Republic's nineteenth century experience was marked by infighting between contending factions—those favoring a federalist republic—struggling against the strong centralist tendencies of the city of Buenos Aires (Unitarians). Argentina's unification and territorial consolidation under a single authority was completed by the 1880s.
Consolidated states
Despite this inheritance of unresolved territorial disputes and numerous periods of muted hostility, the Argentine–Brazilian relationship was not defined by open hostility for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There was competition on many levels, and their respective defense policies reflected mutual suspicion, but their bilateral relationship was not adversarial. After the mid-1850s, neither country resorted to coercion or the use of force to resolve territorial disputes, and during the only general war that took place in the Plata region– the Paraguayan War (1864–1870)– Argentina and Brazil were allied against Paraguay.
Nonetheless, at later part of 19th century, concerns from Argentina over Brazil's possible imperialistic ambition remained, as well as Brazil's close commercial tie with Chile, the rival of Argentina. Fear from possible Brazilian intervention in support for Chile amidst the War of the Pacific had led to Argentina maintaining status quo with Brazil.
Twentieth Century
In Brazil, the liberal revolution of 1930 overthrew the oligarchic coffee plantation owners and brought to power an urban middle class and business interests that promoted industrialization and modernization. Aggressive promotion of new industry turned around the economy by 1933. Brazil's leaders in the 1920s and 1930s decided that Argentina's implicit foreign policy goal was to isolate Portuguese-speaking Brazil from Spanish-speaking neighbors, thus facilitating the expansion of Argentine economic and political influence in South America. Even worse, was the fear that a more powerful Argentine Army would launch a surprise attack on the weaker Brazilian Army. To counter this threat, President Getúlio Vargas forged closer links with the United States. Meanwhile, Argentina moved in the opposite direction. During World War II, Brazil was a staunch ally of the United States and sent its military to Europe. The United States provided over $100 million in Lend-Lease grants, in return for free rent on air bases used to transport American soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic, and naval bases for anti-submarine operations. In sharp contrast, Argentina was officially neutral and at times favored Germany.Stanley E. Hilton, "The Argentine Factor in Twentieth-Century Brazilian Foreign Policy Strategy." Political Science Quarterly 100.1 (1985): 27–51.Stanley E. Hilton, "Brazilian Diplomacy and the Washington-Rio de Janeiro 'Axis' during the World War II Era," Hispanic American Historical Review (1979) 59#2 pp. 201–231 in JSTOR
Communication and physical integration between the two neighbors was limited. The benefits of developing closer economic, political, and cultural relations were not considered until late in the 20th century.
Since 1945, the most acrimonious bilateral dispute concerned the control of water resources along the Alto Paraná basin. In 1966, Brazil and Paraguay concluded the Iguaçu Act, announcing their intention to build a Brazilian–Paraguayan hydroelectric plant, Itaipú dam, on the Paraná River, on the Argentina–Brazil–Paraguay border. The Treaty of Itaipú was signed in Brasília in 1973. However, Buenos Aires feared that Brazil's project would hinder its own plans for the water resources development in the area. For almost a decade, the dispute soured bilateral relations and hampered efforts to forge closer economic and political links.
The dispute over water resources was finally resolved by intense diplomatic negotiations. In October 1979, the Itaipú–Corpus Multilateral Treaty on Technical Cooperation was concluded, ending the dispute to the satisfaction of all three neighbors and opening the way for a dramatic improvement in relations. After the conclusion of the Itaipu–Corpus Treaty, Brazilian president João Figueiredo visited Argentina, the first Brazilian leader to do so in more than four decades.
Figueiredo, the last president of the military rulers who had governed Brazil for 21 years, visited Buenos Aires in May 1980 and signed, among other agreements, a series of accords to collaborate on nuclear issues. Reflecting their shared opposition to the nuclear non-proliferation regime, Argentina and Brazil agreed to co-operate and exchange technical information, materials, and products on all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Following the resolution of the water resources dispute and the Brazilian president's successful visit, an unexpected and traumatic event took place in Argentina that further improved bilateral relations: the 1982 Falklands War.
Falklands War
Three years after calling off the Operation Soberanía to invade the Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands () in April 1982, starting a brief but important war with the United Kingdom. Brazil supported the Argentine claim over the Falkland Islands:
However, when an RAF Vulcan Bomber was forced to land in Rio de Janeiro after attacking Stanley Airport, the Brazilian government refused to hand over crew as prisoners of war to Argentina and instead released them after a brief period of internment.
After hostilities ended in June 1982, Buenos Aires chose Brazil to represent its interests in London until full diplomatic relations with United Kingdom were restored in 1990. Thus, despite rivalry and historical suspicions, Brazil's actions and policies during the most traumatic period of Argentina's recent history—objectionable military rule, near-conflict with Chile and the Falklands War—were fundamental to build trust between the two countries.
Argentina's defeat in the war against Britain hastened the end of its domestic military rule. General elections were held in October 1983, and President Raul Alfonsín was elected with a mandate to ensure that Argentina's recent past was not repeated. Among his main achievements, President Alfonsín started to resolve the enduring territorial conflict with Chile during his six-year term, and significantly improved relations with Brazil.