ABSTRACT
A very complex and interesting aspect of a nation's foreign policy is its continuity or change. However, it is very difficult to define the characteristics of a inaugurated government and make a prognostic on its future action. The foreign policy characteristics of the New Republic are intimately related to the ideas of the late president-elect Tancredo Neves, President Jose Sarney, and the forces that support them. Before the House Committee on Foreign Relations, Tancredo Neves stated that The integration process among South American nations has to be accelerated and intensified. The president-elect's death and José Sarney's rise to the presidency are unlikely to alter the country's foreign policy in any fundamental fashion because it is institutionalized in the Itamaraty and because it reflects long-standing Brazilian aims. The government will make a great effort to obtain better terms for paying the foreign debt, to diminish protectionist barriers in other countries, and to conquer new markets for its exports.
