Brazil–Guyana Relations
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Brazil–Guyana relations have traditionally been close.
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
has provided military assistance to
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
in the form of
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
fare training and
logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
. Bilateral relations between the countries have recently increased, as a result of Brazil's new ''South–South''
foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
aimed to strengthen South American
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
. During a
state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...
by Brazilian President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
to Georgetown on 2 March 2007, the governments of Guyana and Brazil signed several cooperation agreements and announced plans to boost
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
between the two countries.


History

The earliest diplomatic efforts between Guyana and Brazil were to establish the borders between the major colonial powers, in 1904 an arbitral decision divided disputed territorial claims between Brazil and Britain and 1936, the Tri-junction Point Agreement established the border between Brazil, Suriname and
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
. After Guyanese independence in 1966 there was intense
diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...
activity with Brazil. In the case of Guyana's border with
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, Brazil maintained a consistent policy in favour of the sanctity of established international borders through arbitration agreements and opposed any change of borders in the
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n continent. In 1968, immediately after Venezuelan President Raul Leoni decreed "ownership" of a nine-mile strip of ocean off Guyana's three-mile territorial sea limits, the Brazilian government showed support to Guyana in the controversy with Venezuela. On 26 August 1968 Deputy
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Ptolemy Reid visited Brazil for discussions with leaders of the Brazilian government. As a result, the Brazilian government announced the opening of a Brazilian
embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
in Georgetown. In 1975, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
alleged that Guyana was allowing
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n troops to refuel in Guyana en route to the
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
n
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. The
Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil (), occasionally referred to as the Fifth Brazilian Republic, was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against presid ...
was staunchly
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
, and it briefly undertook military maneuvers on its border with Guyana. In November 2002, it was reported that Brazil had carried out a
military operation A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operati ...
in the region of Guyana claimed by
Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
, to destroy several airstrips used by drug traffickers. The Brazilian government did not confirm the story, but insisted that if it had been carried out it would have been done with Guyana's permission.


Cooperation

Creating an overland link to the Caribbean has been a long-standing point of interest between both countries, Brazil wanting an overland link to the Caribbean and Guyana having easy access to Brazilian markets. In 1982, an agreement was signed by President Forbes Burnham and his counterpart President João Figueiredo with the goal of linking Boa Vista and Georgetown. In 1989, Guyana's next president, Desmond Hoyte worked out financing with President José Sarney, using a Brazilian construction firm to build the highway. In 2003, another series of agreements were signed by President Bharrat Jagdeo also included a deep harbour project. In 2009, the
Takutu River Bridge The Takutu River Bridge () is a bridge across the Takutu River, linking Lethem in Guyana to Bonfim in Brazil. It was completed in 2009 and opened on 31 July 2009. Its official inauguration was on 14 September 2009, in the presence of leaders ...
was the first land connection between Brazil and Guyana. In 2012, Guyana joined
MERCOSUR The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...
as an Associate State; Brazil was already a full member. In 2016, during the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of Guyana's independence, the Brazilian government officially changed the way it spelled the name of its neighbouring country, from the colonial form ''Guiana'', with an "i", to the post-independence, official form "Guyana". The Brazil–Guyana Joint Commission for Infrastructure Development was created in 2017 during President David Granger's visit to Brazil.
Festa Junina ''Festas Juninas'' (; "June Festivals/Festivities"), also known as ''festas de São João'' ("Saint John's Day") for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24), are the annual Brazilian celebrations adapted from E ...
is hosted at the Brazilian embassy in Georgetown every year with the Brazil–Guyana Cultural Centre which promotes Brazilian culture through Portuguese classes and other cultural activities.


Resident diplomatic missions

;Of Brazil * Georgetown (Embassy) * Lethem (Vice-Consulate) ;Of Guyana *
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
(Embassy)Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Brazil
/ref> * Boa Vista (Consulate-General) File:Embassy of Guyana in Brasília.jpg, Embassy of Guyana in Brasília


See also

*
Foreign relations of Brazil The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for managing the foreign relations of Brazil. Brazil has the largest economy in Latin America and is a key political and economic power on the world stage. Brazil's foreign policy reflects its role a ...
* Foreign relations of Guyana *
Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN), sometimes also referred to as the South American Union, abbreviated in Spanish as UNASUR and in Portuguese as UNASUL, is an intergovernmental regional organization. It was set up by Hugo Chavez to ...


References

*


External links


Guyana-Brazil Joint Statement
from Guyana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil-Guyana Relations
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
Bilateral relations of Guyana