I have been visiting these two great countries regularly for many years including the period in the late 1990s when I enjoyed my first operating role at Reuters as the manager responsible for our Latin American operations. What I recall clearly from that time was that despite the creation of the Mercosur trading zone linking them both nations acted more like competitors than trading partners. Senior executives and government officials would compare the one to the other and I always had the feeling they viewed a gain for one country as a loss for the other.
I come away from this trip with a totally different impression. I was struck how leading figures in Argentina now recognized that the success of Brazil over the last several years is not just one of those periodic false dawns of the past. This time it is not just luck or the IMF or strong caipirinhas. There was a recognition that what is good for Brazil could also be very good for Argentina through free trade labor mobility and foreign investment.
What a wonderful maturing in the bilateral relations of these perennial football rivals. But don’t expect to see Diego Maradona replace Dunga any time soon.
Hi Tom I completed my placement at Thomson Reuters in London last July and spent the next two months travelling Brazil in Argentina. I was looking through this site to learn more about your early career and was shocked when I came across this. There is a real sense in Brazil that the nation is progressing. Vast natural resources have been discovered the economy is growing and they are hosting the next World Cup. Although Argentinians aren’t head over heels about their closest rival flourishing in this way they definately understand the the benefits for South America as a whole. I don’t think the competitive aspect of their relations is a bad thing though. When it comes to football I’d support Brazil. As I watched little kids playing what can only be described as foot-volleyball on Copacabana Beach I realised football is part of their culture. Not to take anything away from Argentina but I think their praise of ‘The Hand of God’ is shameful. Amandeep