Foreign policy in the Michel Temer government.
New Foreign Minister Jose Serra seeks to signal a radical departure from policy under the centre-left governments of suspended President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Nowhere is this more visible than in trade, where the Foreign Ministry has taken over policy responsibility from the Ministry for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. The governing idea is that Brazil should abandon its focus on multilateral negotiations under the WTO framework and embrace regional trade deals from which it has largely abstained.
As a political 'heavyweight', Serra boosts the role of the Foreign Ministry in the government.
His apparent ambition to use the ministry as a launching pad for a 2018 presidential bid will not necessarily undermine his performance.
However, it will force him to show significant results quickly.
