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This dilemma – the choice between conservatism and diversification - influencedmuch of Brazil’s foreign policy outlook, from the time of the Kubitschek presidencyinto the twenty-first century. Along with the establishment of Petrobrás in 1953, JKushered in a period of greater national awareness, amplified popular interest inforeign policy, and an expanded internal market. Most importantly, “nationalismgained converts and influence in policy formation”, at least until the coup in1964. 472 Traits of the political left in foreign policy, evident in the rejection offoreign economic control, also began to make their appearance. 473The security/development binomial was notably less perceptible during periods ofhigh ideological fervour in foreign policymaking, such as characterised thepresidency of Jânio Quadros and his successor, João Goulart (1961-1964). Duringthis period some decisions – viewed as extreme by conservative factions among theBrazilian elite – were taken that jeopardised Brazil’s standing with its mostimportant strategic partner, the United States. This included the granting of anational order of honour to Ché Guevara, and a refusal to toe the US line on Cuba.Brazil maintained an independent foreign policy under Quadros (it resisted evenjoining NAM, although it became an observer), to the consternation of the UnitedStates, which was funnelling resources to the country in the form of the ‘Alliancefor Progress’, designed to win Brazil’s and other Latin American countries’compliance during the Cold War.The foreign policy of the military regime was by no means uniform, but withdrawaland conservatism in the immediate aftermath of the coup of 1964 until about 1967,was succeeded by commercial expansion and pragmatism which lasted, arguably,well into the period of democratic government. The ‘national interest’ and the‘diplomacy of prosperity’ were permitted a return to the focus of foreign policy bythe East-West détente of the late 1960s-1970s. 474Under the first military government of Castello Branco, Afro-Asian relations weredemoted in favour of a rapprochement with the United States, which had offeredunpublished manuscript (2006). Accessed online at :http://liu.xplorex.com/sites/liu/files/Publications/KenkelSixSteps.pdf on 21 July, 2010.472 Selcher, The Afro-Asian Dimension,10-11.473 Ibid.,: 11.474 Ibid., 29.198