The political influence of transnational corporations in Latin America countries. The example of Petrobras

The article presents an analysis of the activities of the Brazilian corporation Petrobras as a political actor. The choice of Petrobras as an object of research is due to its key position in the country's oil sector, its status as a state-owned enterprise and the amount of financial and other resources available to it. The main part of the study reveals the characteristic features of the company as an actor that has and implements a number of types of power: structural, instrumental, institutional and infrastructural. Despite the fact that most of the corporation's shares are owned by the state, Petrobras has a certain autonomy to make decisions and implement them in the oil sector. Such autonomy, on the one hand, makes it necessary to build mutually beneficial relations both with the state and other participants in economic and political processes. On the other hand, it can turn into a potential source of conflicts between the government and the management of the corporation. The study showed that the effective use of these powers allows Petrobras to assert and expand such autonomy and maintain its status as an important socio-economic and political actor.

Keywords

Petrobras, Brazil, government, transnational corporations, structural power, instrumental power, institutional power, infrastructural power

Received

25.06.2023

Publication date

03.11.2023

Number of characters

30653

Cite

GOST	Zaitsev S. The political influence of transnational corporations in Latin America countries. The example of Petrobras // Latin America – 2023. – Issue 10 C. 26-40 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://latamerica-journal.ru/S0044748X0027612-2-1 (circulation date: 19.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0027612-2
MLA	Zaitsev, Stanislav Y "The political influence of transnational corporations in Latin America countries. The example of Petrobras." Latin America 10 (2023):26-40. DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0027612-2
APA	Zaitsev S. (2023). The political influence of transnational corporations in Latin America countries. The example of Petrobras. Latin America (10), pp.26-40 DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0027612-2

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