2. Brazil as a Development Partner Under Lula and Rousseff: Shifts and Continuities

The chapter explores, through Foreign Policy Analysis, Brazil’s trajectory in South–South development cooperation (SSDC), comparing President Dilma Rousseff’s first administration (2011–14) with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s two terms (2003–10). In the context of presidential activism, increasing South–South relations and traditional donor prioritization of SSDC, Brazilian SSDC gained unprecedented attention under Lula. Despite the slowdown of presidential diplomacy, new priorities, budgetary cuts and the more challenging political and economic context during Rousseff’s mandate, coalitions have continued to mobilize, ensuring continuity in certain sectors of cooperation and expansion into new areas. The intersections among technical cooperation, financial cooperation and trade have also increased, while the national development cooperation framework remained institutionally and legally fragile.