A política externa do governo Médici para a América do Sul: mudanças de regime e difusão autoritária entre 1969 e 1974

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the foreign policy of the Emílio Garrastazu Médici government towards South America and its role in the regime changes that took place in the continent from October 1969 to March 1974. During this period, transitions to authoritarianism happened in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Uruguay. When analyzing the participation of international actors in these processes, the existing literature mainly addresses the actions of the US government of Richard Nixon, neglecting the participation of the Brazilian military regime. The only exception is the coup d'état in Chile, in September 1973, which already has a bibliography on the Brazilian role. The aim of this project is, through primary sources recently declassified, to provide a new interpretation of Medici's foreign policy in South America and his agency in regime changes on the continent. In seeking to fill this gap, the project will be aligned with a new wave of authors who have sought to give greater space to the role of Latin American actors during the Cold War. The work will also seek to contribute with a theoretical arm of the Political Science and International Relations literature that discusses the concepts of authoritarian diffusion and promotion. By presenting the analyzed documentation, we will also discuss Itamaraty's and the Armed Forces’ roles in the decision-making process and in the implementation of Brazilian foreign policy under Médici