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However, Haiti was not merely a humanitarian engagement, it was a patentlypolitical one.Brazil has also sought to distance itself from any notion that it is promoting a‘solution’ in Haiti. Instead, Brazil isvery worried about not being seen as a country that is interfering with othercountries or with the policy of the region as far as [the Haiti question] isconcerned…The nature of Brazil’s presence there is that we try to enforce (sic) theHaitian society so that they can build the country they want. We didn’t want toimpose our culture, we didn’t want to sell our merchandise…we went there to helpthem help themselves. So that’s the spirit of [Brazil’s] presence in Haiti. 670While much has been debated about the ‘novelty’ of Brazilian approaches topeacekeeping in Haiti, it must be borne in mind that Brazil is an expanding regionalpower with clear foreign policy statements on the kind of international order itfavours. In recent years, it has begun to develop the capabilities to shape such anorder, first through ‘soft’ means, such as its economic diplomacy and ‘Southern’engagement in UN peacekeeping operations, but more recently, also by way oftraditional ‘hard’ power. “In the final years of the Cardoso administration”, forexample, “the defense budget rose by the year 2000 to some $17.8 billion, whichwas “more than the rest of South America combined””. 671 In 2000 Brazil alsoacquired a replacement aircraft carrier from France – the only country in SouthAmerica to boast this attribute. 672 In 2007, it was reported that Brazil sought todevelop a nuclear-powered submarine. 673 While on the one hand, even Brazil’sdiplomats have conceded that participation in the Mission in Haiti has beenmotivated to no small extent by the country’s UNSC aspirations; on the other, it“reflects Brazil’s attempts to expand its area of influence to the Caribbean, and670 Ambassador Mourão, interview with the author, July 2010.671 Michael E Connors, “Tudo Pela Patria: The Brazilian Navy’s Drive to Blue Water”,unpublished Masters Thesis, June 2005. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,California.672 Both of Argentina’s light aircraft carriers have been decommissioned. See Wikipedia.“List of aircraft carriers by country”, accessed online at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_by_country on 7 September, 2011.673 Jeb Blount, “Brazil may work with France on Nuclear Submarine (update 1)”,Bloomberg, December 21, 2007. Accessed online at:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4psND3CtdTg&refer=latin_america on 27 November, 2010.260