Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T01:26:31.326Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A False Start on the Road to Mercosur: Reinterpreting Rapprochement Failure between Argentina and Brazil, 1972

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Christopher Darnton
Christopher Darnton*
Affiliation:
Catholic University
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

To understand the momentous transformation in Argentine-Brazilian relations from rivalry to Mercosur, scholars need to analyze negative cases, when rapprochement was attempted unsuccessfully. This article examines the failed 1972 summit between Presidents Alejandro Agustín Lanusse and Emílio Garrastazú Médici, which is poorly explained by existing theories of international relations and overlooked or misinterpreted in many regional histories. I argue, based on research in the Argentine Foreign Ministry Archives, newly declassified US government documents, and a reexamination of published primary sources, that rapprochement failed in 1972 primarily because bureaucratic interests in the armed forces and foreign ministries of both states depended on the continuation of rivalry. Organizational politics, not popular nationalism or presidential diplomatic errors, best explains the persistence of Argentine-Brazilian conflict in the early 1970s. Successful cooperation between rivals therefore may require not only agreement between national leaders but also the support of the state apparatus on both sides.

Resumo

Resumo

Para entender la transformación trascendental de las relaciones argentino-brasileñas desde la rivalidad hasta el Mercosur, se necesita analizar los casos negativos, en los cuales se intentó, sin éxito, forjar el acercamiento. Este artículo se enfoca en la cúpula fallida de 1972 entre los presidentes Alejandro Agustín Lanusse y Emilio Garrastazú Médici, mal explicada por las teorías existentes de relaciones internacionales y omitida o mal interpretada en varias historias regionales. Sostengo, basado en la investigación en el Archivo Histórico de la Cancillería Argentina, en documentos oficiales estadounidenses recién desclasificados, y en una reexaminación de fuentes primarias ya publicadas, que se fracasó en el acercamiento de 1972 primariamente porque los intereses burocráticos de las fuerzas armadas y las cancillerías de ambos países dependían de la continuación de la rivalidad. La política organizacional, no el nacionalismo popular ni los errores de la diplomacia presidencial, explica mejor la duración del conflicto argentino-brasileño en la primera mitad de los setenta. El acercamiento exitoso entre rivales, pues, puede exigir no solamente el acuerdo entre los jefes de estado sino también el apoyo del aparato estatal de ambos lados.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , 2012 , pp. 120 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

Earlier versions of this research were presented at the 2010 International Studies Association conference and the University of Washington International Security Colloquium; research funding came from the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, Program in Latin American Studies, and Bobst Center for Peace and Justice. I thank Jeremy Adelman, Tom Christensen, Jason Davidson, Evan Lieberman, Jason Lyall, Sean McEnroe, Jon Mercer, Andrew Moravcsik, Rebecca Szper, and the three anonymous LARR reviewers for their comments, and the staff of the Archivo Histórico de la Cancillería Argentina for their assistance and hospitality.

References

Allison, Graham T. 1971 Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Alves, Maria Helena Moreira 1985 State and Opposition in Military Brazil. Austin: University of Texas Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreski, Stanislav 1980 “On the Peaceful Disposition of Military Dictatorships.” Journal of Strategic Studies 3 (3): 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aravena, Francisco Rojas 1999 “Presentación.” In Argentina, Brasil y Chile: Integración y seguridad, edited by Aravena, Francisco Rojas, 5–12. Caracas: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Chile; Editorial Nueva Sociedad.Google Scholar
Ayoob, Mohammed 1995 The Third World Security Predicament: State Making, Regional Conflict, and the International System. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balze, Felipe A. M. de la, and Roca, Eduardo A., eds. 1997 Argentina y Estados Unidos: Fundamentos de una nueva alianza. Buenos Aires: Asociación de Bancos de la República Argentina; Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales.Google Scholar
Barboza, Mario Gibson 1992 Na diplomacia, o traço todo da vida. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Record.Google Scholar
Barreto, Fernando P. de Mello 2006 Os sucessores do Barão: Relações exteriores do Brasil. Vol. 2, 1964–1985. São Paulo: Paz e Terra.Google Scholar
Brennan, James, and Gordillo, Monica 1994 “Working Class Protest, Popular Revolt, and Urban Insurrection in Argentina: The 1969 ‘Cordobazo.‘” Journal of Social History 27 (3): 477–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, Stephen G. 2005 Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Michael E., Lynn-Jones, Sean M., and Miller, Steven E., eds. 1996 Debating the Democratic Peace. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Burr, Robert N. 1967 By Reason or Force: Chile and the Balancing of Power in South America, 1830–1905. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Camilión, Oscar 2000 Memórias políticas: De Frondizi a Menem (1956–1996). Buenos Aires: Planeta. Candeas, Alessandro WarleyGoogle Scholar
Camilión, Oscar 2005 “Relações Brasil-Argentina: Uma análise dos avanços e recuos.” Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional 48 (1): 178–213.Google Scholar
Castañeda, Jorge G. 1993 Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left after the Cold War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Centeno, Miguel Angel 2002 Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Child, John 1980 Unequal Alliance: The Inter-American Military System, 1938–1978. Boulder, CO: West-view Press.Google Scholar
Cisneros, Andrés, and Escudé, Carlos, eds. 1998 Historia general de las relaciones exteriores de la República Argentina. 15 vols. Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano.Google Scholar
Colaresi, Michael P., Rasler, Karen, and Thompson, William R. 2007 Strategic Rivalries in World Politics: Position, Space, and Conflict Escalation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
da Rosa, J. Eliseo 1983 “Economics, Politics, and Hydroelectric Power: The Paraná River Basin.” Latin American Research Review 18 (3): 77–107.Google Scholar
Darnton, Christopher 2011 “Rivalry and Rapprochement in Early Cold War Latin America.” Security Studies 20 (2): 198–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, Steven R. 1991 Choosing Sides: Alignment and Realignment in the Third World. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Entrevista de los presidentes de la Argentina y Brasil 1972 Argentina, Presidencia de la Nación, Secretaria de Prensa y Difusión, Dirección General de Difusión, Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Fausto, Boris 1999 A Concise History of Brazil. Translated by Brakel, Arthur. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Feaver, Peter D. 2003 Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil-Military Relations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finnemore, Martha 2003 The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Fraga, Rosendo 1997 “A experiencia histórica no Brasil e na Argentina de 1966 a 1983: Começo da convergência.” In Perspectivas: Brasil e Argentina, edited by José María Liadós and Samuel Pinheiro Guimarães, 2:485–512. Brasília: Instituto de Pesquisa de Relações Internacionais; Fundação Alexandre de Gusmão.Google Scholar
Fraga, Rosendo 1998 “El concepto de las hipótesis de conflicto.” In Política exterior argentina, 1989–1999: Historia de un éxito, edited by Cisneros, Andrés, 237–273. Buenos Aires: Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales; Grupo Editor Latinoamericano.Google Scholar
Fraga, Rosendo, and de Seixas Corrêa, Luiz Felipe 1998 Argentina-Brasil: Centenario de 2 visitas: Historia fotográfica. Chile: Morgan International; Editorial Centro de Estudios Unión para la Nueva Mayoría.Google Scholar
Francis, Michael 1988 “United States Policy toward Latin America during the Kissinger Years.” In United States Policy in Latin America: A Quarter Century of Crisis and Challenge, 1961–1986, edited by Martz, John D., 28–60. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Frank, Gary 1979 Struggle for Hegemony in South America: Argentina, Brazil, and the United States during the Second World War. Miami: Center for Advanced International Studies, University of Miami.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, Francis 1992 The End of History and the Last Man. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Gaspari, Elio 2002 A ditadura escancarada. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Charles 1988-1989 “Argentines on Authoritarianism.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 30 (4): 183–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorender, Jacob 1999 Combate nas trevas. 6th ed. São Paulo: Editora Ática.Google Scholar
Haas, Mark L. 2005 The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics, 1789–1989. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Heinz, Wolfgang S., and Frühling, Hugo 1999 Determinants of Gross Human Rights Violations by State and State-Sponsored Actors in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina, 1960–1990. Boston: M. Nijhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilton, Stanley 1985 “The Argentine Factor in Twentieth-Century Brazilian Foreign Policy Strategy.” Political Science Quarterly 100 (1): 27–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurrell, Andrew 1998 “An Emerging Security Community in Latin America?” In Security Communities, edited by Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael, 228–264. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikenberry, G. John, and Kupchan, Charles 1990 “Socialization and Hegemonic Power.” International Organization 44 (3): 283–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kacowicz, Arie M. 1998 Zones of Peace in the Third World: South America and West Africa in Comparative Perspective. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Kacowicz, Arie M. 2005 The Impact of Norms in International Society: The Latin American Experience, 1881–2001. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J., ed. 1996 The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Robert 1979 “Industrial Change and Authoritarian Rule in Latin America: A Concrete Review of the Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model.” In The New Authoritarianism in Latin America, edited by Collier, David, 165–253. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn 1998 Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kissinger, Henry A. 1979 White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Klotz, Audie 1995 Norms in International Relations: The Struggle against Apartheid. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kornbluh, Peter 2004 The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability. New York: New Press.Google Scholar
Krebs, Ronald, and Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus 2007 “Twisting Tongues and Twisting Arms: The Power of Political Rhetoric.” European Journal of International Relations 13 (1): 35–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupchan, Charles A. 2010 How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lanús, Juan Archibaldo 1986 De Chapultepec al Beagle: Política exterior argentina, 1945–1980. 2 vols. Buenos Aires: Hyspamérica.Google Scholar
Lanusse, Alejandro Agustín 1977 Mi testimonio. Buenos Aires: Laserre Editores.Google Scholar
Lanusse, Alejandro Agustín 1988 Protagonista y testigo: Reflexiones sobre 70 años de nuestra historia. Buenos Aires: Marcelo Lugones Editores.Google Scholar
Lanusse, Alejandro Agustín 1994 Confesiones de un general. Buenos Aires: Planeta.Google Scholar
Loveman, Brian 1999 For la Patria: Politics and the Armed Forces in Latin America. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources.Google Scholar
Luna, Félix 1972 Argentina de Perón a Lanusse, 1943–1973. Buenos Aires: Planeta.Google Scholar
Mahoney, James, and Goertz, Gary 2004 “The Possibility Principle: Choosing Negative Cases in Comparative Research.” American Political Science Review 98 (4): 653–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McSherry, J. Patrice 2005 Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Methol Ferré, Alberto 1996 “Conciencia histórica e integración.” Archivos del Presente 3:109–116.Google Scholar
Moniz Bandeira, Luiz Alberto 2003 Conflito e integração na América do Sul: Brasil, Argentina e Estados Unidos (Da Tríplice Aliança ao Mercosul), 1870–2003. 2nd ed. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Revan.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew 1998 The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo 1979 Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism: Studies in South American Politics. 2nd ed. Berkeley: Institute of International Studies, University of California.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo 1988 Bureaucratic Authoritarianism: Argentina, 1966–1973, in Comparative Perspective. Translated by McGuire, James. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oelsner, Andrea 2005 International Relations in Latin America: Peace and Security in the Southern Cone. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Owen, John M. 1997 Liberal Peace, Liberal War: American Politics and International Security. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Pearlman, Wendy 2008-2009 “Spoiling Inside and Out: Internal Political Contestation and the Middle East Peace Process.” International Security 33 (3): 79–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peceny, Mark, and Beer, Caroline C., Sanchez-Terry, with Shannon 2002 “Dictatorial Peace?” American Political Science Review 96 (1): 15–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pomer, Léon 1984 Conflictos en la Cuenca del Plata en el siglo xix. Buenos Aires: Riesa.Google Scholar
Quartim, João 1971 Dictatorship and Armed Struggle in Brazil. Translated by Fernbach, David. New York: New Left Books.Google Scholar
Ragin, Charles C. 2004 “Turning the Tables: How Case-Oriented Research Challenges Variable-Oriented Research.” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, edited by Brady, Henry and Collier, David, 123–138. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Resende-Santos, João 2002 “The Origins of Security Cooperation in the Southern Cone.” Latin American Politics and Society 44 (4): 89–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Resende-Santos, João 2007 Neorealism, States, and the Modern Mass Army. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richter, James G. 1992 “Perpetuating the Cold War: Domestic Sources of International Patterns of Behavior.” Political Science Quarterly 107 (2): 271–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risse, Thomas 2000 “‘Let's Argue!‘ Communicative Action in World Politics.” International Organization 54 (1): 1–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rock, Stephen R. 1989 Why Peace Breaks Out: Great Power Rapprochement in Historical Perspective. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Romero, Luis Alberto 2004 A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Translated by Brennan, James. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Rose, R. S. 2005 The Unpast: Elite Violence and Social Control in Brazil, 1954–2000. Athens: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Russell, Roberto, and Tokatlián, Juan Gabriél 2003 El lugar de Brasil en la política exterior argentina. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Russett, Bruce, and Oneal, John R. 2001 Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Scenna, Miguel Angel 1975 Argentina-Brasil: Cuatro siglos de rivalidad. Buenos Aires: Emece.Google Scholar
Seckinger, Ron 1975 “A Guide to Selected Diplomatic Archives of South America.” Latin American Research Review 10 (1): 127–153.Google Scholar
Serbin, Kenneth 2009 “Mainstreaming the Revolutionaries: National Liberating Action and the Shift from Resistance to Democracy in Brazil, 1964-Present.” In Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding: Moving from Violence to Sustainable Peace, edited by Dayton, Bruce W. and Kriesberg, Louis, 204–219. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Skidmore, Thomas E. 1988 The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil, 1964–1985. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Peter H. 2008 Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Solingen, Etel 1998 Regional Orders at Century's Dawn: Global and Domestic Influences on Grand Strategy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Stedman, Stephen J. 1997 “Spoiler Problems in Peace Processes.” International Security 22 (2): 5–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stepan, Alfred 1971 The Military in Politics: Changing Patterns in Brazil. Princeton, NJ: RAND Corporation; Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred 1973 “The New Professionalism of Internal Warfare and Military Role Expansion.” In Authoritarian Brazil: Origins, Policies, and Future, edited by Stepan, Alfred, 47–65. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred 1988 Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 1979 World Armaments and Disarmament (SIPRI Yearbook). London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Thies, Cameron 2005 “War, Rivalry, and State-Building in Latin America.” American Journal of Political Science 49 (3): 451–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Ward 2001 The Ethics of Destruction: Norms and Force in International Relations. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Valenzuela, Arturo 1978 The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes: Chile. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Walt, Steven M. 1987 The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Weiner, Tim 2007 Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Whitaker, Arthur P. 1976 The United States and the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wickham-Crowley, Timothy 2001 “Winners, Losers, and Also-Rans: Toward a Comparative Sociology of Latin American Guerrilla Movements.” In Power and Popular Protest: Latin American Social Movements, edited by Eckstein, Susan, 132–181. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
World Bank 2008 World Development Indicators Online (accessed November 2008 at http://www.worldbank.org/data).Google Scholar
Zegart, Amy B. 1999 Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar