Congresso e política externa nos Estados Unidos: os Tratados de Livre Comércio com Chile, Colômbia e Peru

This paper analyses the functions and behaviours of US Congress in foreign policy affairs, verifying especially the variables regarding partisan composition and relations between Executive and Legislative, in the perspective of administration and opposition, understood as the main explanation for the representatives voting pattern. The work contributes to the studies of Foreign Policy Analysis, with emphasis on the role of Congress, as well as on the US trade policy analysis, highlighting its political aspects and the domestic processes for its accomplishment. As case studies, the deliberations of the Free Trade Agreements with Chile, Colombia and Peru signed under the Bush administration are analysed. Besides US internal explanations, we situate this period of foreign policy in the context of international system noted in the 21st century, both at the regional and global levels, proving the interaction between national and international levels in the formulation of foreign policy.