Jamil Chade Bolsonaro’s trip ignores Itamaraty and complicates access to information 31.12.2022 04h00

Jair Bolsonaro’s trip to the United States in an official Brazilian Air Force plane bypassed Itamaraty, a government body that is always summoned for any mission outside national borders by a president.

Members of the State Department’s office assist the UOL in organizing the Prime Minister’s trip, preparing the president’s arrival on American soil, coordinating the flight with the US authorities, and managing the residency of the head of state in another country.

Why might this be relevant? It’s up to Itamaraty to set up the bases and even the security of any presidential trip abroad. For this to happen, it is customary for the Chancery to do the following:

• Contact the host government hosting the President;
• Send a delegation days in advance to determine travel route, accommodation and security;
• Let the president set the agenda he wants to keep abroad;
• Take control over all Brazilians who are part of the mission;
• Guarantee assistance, hotels and services for the other crew of the flight, as well as for the technical crew and consultants who make the flight alongside the president.

For seasoned Brazilian ambassadors who do not wish to be named, a trip without diplomacy can mean difficulties in finally getting information published after years of documents that should have been kept secret.

“The fewer people involved, the less chance they’ll leave a mark on how a decision was made, who was there, and how such a trip happened,” said a former person responsible for assisting Brazilian presidents.

For others at Itamaraty, the deliberate decision not to include the chancellery also reinforces the “not-so-republican character” of the trip. Since it is an operation within the democratic regime using public resources and state planes, voices within the State Department do not hesitate to warn that information about the operation against Orlando (USA) needs to be clarified.

Foreign delegations, who have already begun to arrive in Brazil, also commented on Bolsonaro’s trip abroad, lamenting the symbolism of a democratic process that has not completed its cycle.

For Europeans, Bolsonaro’s early travel is not good for Brazil’s external image. “While there is confidence that the process of restoring a serious democratic order under (Luiz Inácio) Lula (da Silva) will begin again, the photograph of a presidential plane taking off vaguely gives the impression of a banana republic that often takes off unfairly, the world about Latin America. still permeates the popular imagination around the world,” admitted a foreign negotiator.