Brazil–Guyana relations have traditionally been close.

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

has provided military assistance to

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

in the form of warfare training and

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

. Bilateral relations between the countries have recently increased, as a result of Brazil's new ''South–South''

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

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 a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 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. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

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, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. 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, p ...

activity with Brazil. In the case of Guyana's border with

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, 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 relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

n continent. In 1968, immediately after Venezuelan President

Raul Leoni Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

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, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 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 usually deno ...

in Georgetown. In 1975, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

alleged that Guyana was allowing

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n troops to refuel in Guyana en route to the

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 ...

. The

Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...

was staunchly

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, 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 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. Operations may ...

in the region of Guyana claimed by

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, to destroy several airstrips used by

drug traffic The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, except under license, ...

kers. 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 ( pt, Ponte do Rio Tacutu) is a bridge across the Takutu River, linking Lethem, Guyana, Lethem in Guyana to Bonfim, Roraima, Bonfim in Brazil. It was completed in 2009 and opened on 31 July 2009. Its official inauguration ...

was the first land connection between Brazil and Guyana. In 2012, Guyana joined MERCOSUR 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 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.

References

External links

Guyana-Brazil Joint Statement
from Guyana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil-Guyana Relations

Bilateral relations of Guyana

History

Cooperation

See also

References

External links