South-South Cooperation and Companies in Brazil and Chile

This article analyzes the participation of companies in the South-South Cooperation (SSC) of Brazil and Chile during the last decade. It proposes that economic interests attract the private sector into SSC -no exclusion being made of solidarity reasons- and that such interests are in line with the foreign policy objectives set by both governments. As Brazil and Chile have implemented very similar economic programs -the Brazilian one inspired in German neoliberalism, whereas the Chilean one, in the Chicago school, with less State intervention (Ramírez, 2012, p. 77)-, their companies’ participation enables us to observe whether the economic model has any impact on the role they play in SSC. During the last decade, Brazil’s and Chile’s SSC has pursued political and economic goals that form part of their respective national interest within a realistic approach to international relations. This interest is reflected in their economic policies, whereby companies can accumulate resources (capital, knowledge, expertise) to reach the international market; therefore, business strategies are rooted in national economic policies (Goldstein, 2007). In both cases, SSC is a foreign policy instrument helping Brazil and Chile attain their economic goals and overcome their neighbors’ mistrust and the new stratification of the Global South, according to which they are at an intermediate level close to the developed countries (Vieira Alden, 2011). Moreover, SSC serves as a mechanism to gain recognition and support (Brazil, at the WTO and the UN; Chile, among its regional priority partners), without necessarily representing a contradiction between solidarity for development and national economic advancement (Burges, 2012). This encourages business involvement, despite the differences as to the mechanisms used by either government to boost it and the type of business that participates (large-sized companies in Brazil, SMEs in Chile). In Brazil and Chile, private companies reap benefits from SSC, which have a positive impact on the governments’ political interests. Furthermore, SSC relies on the competitive advantages (technology, domestic savings, etc.) that these companies create as government policies favor their interests. In this sense, the economic model in Brazil and Chile is relevant for these countries’ SSC, as it gives the private sector a fundamental role in supporting their foreign policy goals. Overall, SSC and companies appear to supplement and support each other in both countries, without discrediting the benefits brought to third countries.