Brazil’s foreign policy is often analyzed through the lens of its regional leadership or its participation in the BRICS and the G20. Yet one of its most strategic dimensions has been its relationship with the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP), a sphere that illustrates how a middle power can expand its autonomy in a multipolar international system by relying on resources that extend beyond economic and military power.
During the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010), Brazil significantly reshaped its foreign policy. Rather than concentrating its international engagement on its traditional ties with the United States and Europe, it adopted a strategy that international relations scholars Vigevani and Cepaluni described as “autonomy through diversification”: expanding its room for maneuver by building alliances with the Global South in order to reduce its dependence on the Global North.
This approach was not unique to Brazil. Argentina under the Kirchners and Venezuela under Hugo Chávez also promoted South-South cooperation initiatives. However, Brazil possessed advantages that no other Latin American country could match: the Portuguese language, a strong Afro-descendant heritage, decades of technical cooperation, and a diplomatic corps with extensive multilateral experience. These soft power resources enabled Brazil to establish a distinctive presence in Africa.
This makes it possible to speak of multipolar autonomy, understood as the ability of a semi-peripheral state to capitalize on the dispersion of international power and expand its decision-making capacity by diversifying its alliances. Within this framework, soft power ceases to be merely complementary and becomes a strategic asset. In Portuguese-speaking Africa, language, historical ties, and technical cooperation have allowed Brazil to project an influence that would be difficult to achieve through economic instruments alone.
The Lusophone architecture as a transregional space
The principal institutional vehicle for this projection is the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), established in 1996 and comprising Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. More than a cultural organization, the CPLP serves as a diplomatic platform connecting three continents and providing Brazil with an institutional presence in Africa unmatched by any other Latin American country.
One of its most successful instruments has been educational cooperation. Programs such as PEC-G have enabled thousands of students from the PALOP countries to pursue higher education in Brazil, creating professional and academic networks that strengthen ties between the two regions and foster long-term relationships.
The CPLP’s geopolitical uniqueness lies in the fact that Portugal simultaneously belongs to the Lusophone community, the European Union, and the Macao Forum, established by China to strengthen its relations with Portuguese-speaking countries. This triple membership transforms Lusophony into a space where European, Latin American, African, and Asian interests converge.
More than a linguistic community, Lusophony constitutes a transregional architecture in which different models of cooperation interact and can potentially complement one another. This institutional overlap represents an opportunity that remains largely underutilized.
Brazilian soft power and its complementarity with Europe
Europe’s presence within the CPLP has historically been mediated by Portugal. Its Africa policy combines the memory of its colonial past with the responsibilities arising from its membership in the European Union. This dual role creates both constraints and opportunities.
The colonial legacy continues to shape Portugal’s image in parts of Africa. At the same time, its membership in the European Union enables it to act as a bridge between European institutions and the Lusophone world.
Brazil occupies a different position. Although it shares a history linked to Portuguese colonialism, its contemporary relationship with the PALOP countries has been built upon technical cooperation, cultural affinity, and a narrative of postcolonial solidarity. The shared language and academic networks reinforce a legitimacy that distinguishes Brazil’s presence from Europe’s colonial experience.
This distinction makes the resources of Brazil and the European Union more complementary than competitive. While Europe contributes financing, market access, regulatory expertise, and technology transfer, Brazil offers cultural proximity, symbolic legitimacy, and highly regarded technical cooperation. A coordinated strategy would multiply the impact of both actors.
For the PALOP countries, this diversification is equally beneficial, as it broadens their cooperation options and strengthens their bargaining power vis-à-vis external actors.
An underutilized transregional agenda
The European Union is currently undergoing a process of strategic redefinition. Geopolitical competition, the need to strengthen ties with the Global South, uncertainty in transatlantic relations, and renewed momentum behind the EU–Mercosur Agreement have all revived Europe’s interest in Latin America.
Yet this agenda remains focused primarily on trade and political dialogue. Portuguese-speaking Africa represents a largely unexplored dimension where Brazil and Europe could develop trilateral cooperation with significant mutual benefits.
A first area involves expanding educational and scientific cooperation. Brazil’s experience in academic mobility could be scaled up through European funding, strengthening university networks among the PALOP countries, Brazil, and Europe while consolidating spaces for joint knowledge production.
A second priority is strengthening the institutional capacity of the CPLP. Although the organization has demonstrated its value as a political forum, it possesses limited resources to implement development projects. Greater European involvement would expand its capacity to act in areas such as education, healthcare, the energy transition, digitalization, and institutional strengthening.
A third area concerns coordination between Brazil and the European Union in multilateral forums that include Lusophone countries. Jointly promoting initiatives on sustainable development, democratic governance, human rights, and climate change would allow existing networks to be leveraged while enhancing the international influence of the Lusophone community.
Lusophony as a Geopolitical Asset
Lusophony is not merely a historical legacy. In a multipolar international system, it constitutes a platform capable of connecting regions, forging alliances, and expanding opportunities for cooperation among actors with complementary capabilities.
Brazil possesses significant cultural and diplomatic capital built over decades of cooperation with the PALOP countries. The European Union contributes financial, technological, and institutional resources that can reinforce this capital, while Portugal serves as the natural bridge between these two dimensions.
Transforming this complementarity into a shared strategy requires moving beyond narrowly national approaches and understanding Lusophony as a transregional space for collective action. Rather than competing for influence in Africa, Brazil and the European Union have the opportunity to build an agenda grounded in cooperation, institutional strengthening, and the provision of international public goods.
In a context of increasing fragmentation of the international order, the Lusophone architecture offers a comparative advantage that remains largely untapped. If Brazil, Portugal, and the European Union succeed in articulating a common vision, the Lusophone community can consolidate itself as a bridge linking Latin America, Europe, and Africa, while becoming a privileged platform for advancing transregional cooperation suited to the challenges of the twenty-first century.
This article is a collaboration with the EULAS Network, which seeks to promote academic cooperation, innovation, and research between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Autor
PhD candidate at UNU-CRIS and Ghent University. Master's degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and a Master's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Spain.
