"Brazil is doomed to be great" said Baron de Rio Branco, one of the most astute diplomats in Latin American history. Rio Branco, a Brazilian civil hero, was the great architect of the border consolidation of the South American giant, a process carried out peacefully, thanks to the impressive work done by Itamaraty (the Brazilian chancellery) at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

Rio Branco was not a leader of the new republic founded in 1889 by modernizing military and positivist Comtians. In reality, the Baron was a statesman forged in the heat of the old Empire. When the Republic offered him the Chancellery, Rio Branco, after several hesitations, accepted. It was difficult to leave a Europe that was beginning the Belle Epoque to enter the insecurity of Latin politics. However, from his new post, this Metternich of the tropics managed to consolidate sixteen thousand kilometers of Brazilian borders without firing a single cartridge. And along the way, he established Brazil's imperial vocation for the future.

This imperial vocation is part of the history of the South American giant. Rio Branco bequeathed to Itamaraty and to the Brazilian State the full awareness of its historical role in the continent. Or, rather, of its tutelary role in South America. Indeed, according to Latinobarómetro, nearly two out of ten Latin Americans perceive Brazil as the country with the greatest leadership in the region (20%) and also the most friendly (13%). Argentina, its old contender, today meekly accepts Brazilian supremacy (54%) by betting on the MERCOSUR joint card. Yes, in a way, Brazil is the ethnic democracy prophesied by Gilberto Freyre, the tropical Rome of Darcy Ribeiro, the country of the future of Kubitschek.

A country whose leadership is recognized by most of the South American community has a prestige to maintain. It is understandable that all Brazilian foreign policy seeks to strengthen its real power, increase its auctoritas, strengthen its companies, create a competitive military network and defend its citizens abroad. Precisely this last point has triggered the Brazilian government's reaction to our immigration policy. issue Since the tension erupted in 2008 as a result of the expulsions in Barajas, and although the number of Brazilians suffering this measure has decreased, hundreds of cases continue to provoke the discomfort of Brasilia. In the last five years, almost ten thousand Brazilians have been expelled from Spain. From agreement to the official figures, one hundred thousand Spaniards live in Brazil, while about eighty thousand Brazilians reside in our country. There are too many common interests that unite us. For this reason, the South American leader's indication that as of April 2 he will demand similar conditions from Spanish tourists to those required by Barajas or El Prat airports for Brazilian travelers (money, invitation letter, reservation hotel, etc.), is not a trivial matter. Although Spain's image is positive throughout the continent (also in Brazil), if we want it to be maintained and strengthened, we need to review our strategy with respect to Latin immigration, an immigration that has clearly been favorable for our society according to most of the empirical programs of study . If we continue to develop prejudices about immigrants (they are criminals, they take away our work, they live for free from the State) we will directly feed a South American social response that will have repercussions on our investments, profitable and efficient from all perspectives. Encouraging the resentment of a large community that is largely honest, capable and enterprising, has nothing to do with liberal principles and a lot to do with electoral demagogy. When it comes to Ibero-America, a region so closely linked to our development, a space that is closely linked to our history, it is better to paraphrase Cicero: "Silent leges inter fratres". Between brothers, let draconian rules be silent, let restrictions and abusive treatment be eliminated. Rio Branco, with tact and elegance, would remind us where Brazil comes from and why open societies must accompany it.