Socio-Economic or General Cultural Similarities between Brazil and the rest of Latin America would seem sufficient to support similarities of interests and close cooperative relationships. Yet Brazil's Lusophone culture, the immensity of the country, the geographical distance of much of its population from Spanish American population centers, and middle and upper class fascination for things American or European led instead to a sense of separateness and distinctness which impeded serious Brazilian selfidentification, beyond rhetoric, as a Latin American nation despite its geographical location. Thus the question of how Brazil should relate to the rest of Latin America has been a topic of domestic and continental debate, with increasingly practical consequences as the South American development process continues. The recent shift toward more intense, collaborative relations, in particular, invites analysis of current trends and speculation on possible outcomes.