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South Africa expanded its engagements in both material (financial) and rhetoricalsenses. Along with the opening of some 70 new embassies, especially in Africa, andthe establishment of an African Renaissance Fund 705 , among other resourceallocations, the South African government expanded its scope of interest ininternational affairs. This was achieved by making pronouncements on, andcommitting resources to, matters as diverse as the political crisis in Haiti, and theIsrael-Palestine peace process, amongst others. The country was better able toengage in activism and adopt assertive positions on certain issues that were moredistant from its immediate purview, such as the Palestine-Israel and Morocco-POLISARIO questions, than those closer to home, such as Zimbabwe. Tworeasons – one international, and one national - may be adduced for this: First, theSouth African leadership preferred to take more decisive action on issues furtherafield because the leadership was hesitant to be cast in a negative light, as an‘imperialist stooge’ in the southern African region. Second, it appeared to be easierto build coalitions – or at least avert significant opposition - on ideological issuesfurther afield, than to broach political questions, with consequences for SouthAfrica – and the political dominance of the ANC - closer to home.South African foreign policymakers, while paying lip-service to internationalism as aguiding principle in foreign policy, were careful to chart a course in foreign policy,labelled ‘pragmatic’, that would limit its political costs and increase its political gainsas far as its own electoral alliance with the labour movement and the communistparty were concerned. One major exception here was the Zimbabwe question,where security (i.e. external) concerns may have exceeded political (i.e. domestic)concerns in importance for key decision-makers.8.1.4. BrazilWhile Lula’s victory in the 2002 presidential election was resounding, the capacity ofthe Party to give effect to long-held foreign policy principles was limited by theinstitutional handicaps imposed by its comparative weakness in the legislature;705 Act 51 of 2000 created the African Renaissance Fund, “for the purpose of enhancinginternational co-operation with and on the African Continent and to confirm the Republicof South Africa’s commitment to Africa”.286