António de Oliveira Salazar
Despite the authoritarian character of the regime, Portugal did not experience the same levels of international isolation as Spain did following World War II. Unlike Spain, Portugal under Salazar was accepted into the Marshall Plan (1947–1948) in return for the aid it gave to the Allies during the final stages of the war. Furthermore, also unlike Spain, it was one of the 12 founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1949, a reflection of Portugal's role as an ally against communism during the Cold War in spite of its status as the only non-democratic founder. In 1950, Portugal joined the European Payments Union and participated in the founding of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1961. It joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1962, and finally, Portugal signed a free trade agreement with the European Economic Community in 1972, still under the auspices of the "Estado Novo".
World War II by country
Brazil was under its second civilian military dictatorship led by Getúlio Vargas, maintaining its official neutrality until 1941, when it allowed US forces to use bases to patrol the South Atlantic. The United States built several airfields on Brazilian soil with the understanding that shortly after the war ended, they would be turned over to Brazil. In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the declarations of war of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy against the USA, in January 1942 at the 9th Pan-American Conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil helped to influence other American countries to cut diplomatic relations with Axis Powers. In retaliation, Germany and Italy extended their submarine warfare against them. In the first half of 1942 Axis submarines sank Brazilian merchant ships, and Brazilian naval forces chased and attacked these submarines. When seven merchant ships were sunk by the German Submarine U-507 , Vargas decided to make official the state of war against Germany and Italy.