Brazilian sea power before the dreadnought race

Why are Brazilian dreadnoughts described as the country's first step toward international power?

Brazil and other South American states were already outward-looking trading powers, and some possessed stronger navies and wider presence than the United States before Theodore Roosevelt.

Brazil's merchant economy required international connections well before Minas Geraes, so the battleship was not the beginning of engagement with the wider world. The label reflects a narrow narrative that overlooks periods when South American navies were more internationally active than the contemporary US Navy.