Brazilian-Venezuelan relations

In the past decade, Brazil has established closer relations with Venezuela and prioritizes them. In 2005, the countries announced the beginning of a strategic partnership, in 2007 they agreed to organize regular meetings of the presidents, and in 2012 Venezuela was admitted to Mercosur . Brazilian construction companies are involved in the development of Venezuelan infrastructure (construction of roads, hydropower plants, metro lines and irrigation systems) ^[2] . In January 2015, the leaders of both countries agreed to move to a new level of bilateral relations and expand economic cooperation ^[3] .

In 2016, relations between the countries deteriorated sharply after the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff , Venezuelan politicians called the incident “a coup” ^[4] . On December 24, 2017, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro decided to expel Brazilian diplomats from the country, accusing Brazil of interfering in the country's internal affairs ^[5] . On December 27, 2017, Brazil declared Venezuelan diplomats persona non grata and expelled from the country ^[6] .

In 2007, Brazil's exports to Venezuela amounted to 3.8 billion US dollars , and export of goods from Venezuela to Brazil was carried out in the amount of 269 million US dollars ^[7] . In 2013, exports from Brazil to Venezuela amounted to about 5 billion US dollars, which made this country the second largest partner of Brazil in South America , after Argentina . In 2013, the total amount of Brazilian investments in the Venezuelan economy amounted to about 20 billion US dollars ^{[8] [9]} .