The article examines how Brazilian diplomacy dealt with the question of naval armaments among the ABC countries (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) during the 1923 Pan American Conference in Santiago. Thought to be in a position of strategic inferiority, Brazil aimed at preserving its autonomy in defense affairs and, for this reason, it was accused of militarism. Negotiations on the so-called Thesis XII ended in a stalemate and, by the end of the Conference, Brazil found itself virtually isolated in the region.
Brazilian Foreign Policy; Pan American Conference of 1923; Naval Armaments