The Parliamentary Agricultural Front in the Brazilian foreign policy (2019-2022)

Abstract

This paper analyses how the Parliamentary Agricultural Front acted in Brazilian foreign policy between 2019 and 2022. The goal is to address key situations in which parliamentary actors promoted initiatives in foreign policy according to agribusiness interests. We discuss three cases that reveal new instruments employed by parliamentarians in foreign policy: the EU-Mercosur agreement, relations Brazil-China and the Russia-Ukraine war. The research was based on a survey of the official position of the FPA, through institutional publications, social media, press, and the group's magazine. Parliamentary speeches, requests, and interventions in external relations committees were mapped based on the list of FPA signatories and keyword searches in public documents from the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Theoretically, this study is based on Executive-Legislative relations literature. We argue that, in issues related to agribusiness, Congress has not delegated nor abdicated, but participated consistently and continuously throughout the whole mandate, seeking to influence Brazil’s external positions into pragmatism and promotion of economic interests.