Portugal and Latin America beyond historical and cultural ties

Abstract

Today Latin America is in the Portuguese foreign policy priorities; at least, the region is target of the economic diplomacy of a country with prospects and interests that reach beyond the limitations imposed by a financial and economic crisis with serious social repercussions. However, given the high potential of a relationship that actually has advantages (inter-comprehension linguistic, historical and cultural proximity and some commons juridical traditions) the political and economic investments of Portugal in the region are still timid and insufficient. This paper analyzes some aspects beyond historical and cultural ties in order to understand the main causes, conditionings and limitations of the current relationship between the parts.