Contribuições do BNDES como instrumento de soft power na América do Sul

Abstract

This paper describes the contributions of the BNDES as an instrument of soft power in South America. For this purpose, the correspondent literature was examined with the aim to find ways of soft power which can be used by the Brazilian government in its strategic environment. To describe such contributions, this study made a bibliographical and documentary research to write a historical synthesis of Brazilian diplomatic actions in the South America, in order to identify the BNDES's role, which has especially relevance in President Lula's two initial terms. Afterwards, mentions of BNDES support for South America related by official acts accompanied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decrease until January 2023, when President Lula begins his third term and restart his foreign policy for that region. The study concludes that the BNDES played a relevant role in the construction of the Brazilian speech regarding regional integration. However, the same cannot be said about the relevance of these financing for the BNDES portfolio: when comparing the effective support for the South American integration foreign policy with the bank's general performance, it is possible to state surely that these projects was relatively small compared to the sum of the whole loans. Likewise, this paper elucidates that BNDES support for infrastructure projects abroad did not compete by recourses with national projects. With Lula's return to the Presidency and the resumption of the South America agenda, BNDES can potentially contribute to the exercise of soft power again. However, the reconstruction of the Brazilian Export Support System is necessary to the foreign policy effectiveness.