This article was drawn up as part of a broader study that has the objective of investigating the context and the intentions in which popular education practices were carried out in Brazil in the 1970's and 1980's, identifying factors that permitted their development. The specific objective of this text focuses on discussing the role that the European cooperation agencies had in their support of Brazilian civil society organizations in their action in the field of popular education during that period as well as with regard to the influence of Paulo Frere's thought. Towards this, besides offering a bibliography on the theme, interviews with the principal officials related to projects that supported work in Brazil were also analyzed.
Paulo Freire; popular education; international cooperation; non-governmental organizations; basic ecclesial communities