Focusing almost entirely on an attempt to stay in power, President Jair Bolsonaro abandoned the country’s international agenda and left the role of representing Brazil abroad to ministers and secretaries.
Bolsonaro will not attend the Davos Economic Forum in two weeks, is not expected to attend the main meeting of heads of state on the continent, the Summit of the Americas, has no bilateral visit agenda and is still ignored by the German-led G7.
In Itamaraty, diplomats are torn between relief and anxiety. The convenience of not having to “put out the fires” from disastrous statements or miscalculations made by the president in meetings with foreign leaders, as in a recent meeting with Vladimir Putin.
In recent years, Bolsonaro’s bilateral meeting agenda has been minimal during summits. But not just because other presidents showed no interest in meeting the Brazilian. According to diplomats, a wing of Itamaraty made a deliberate maneuver to avoid effort in seeking talks for the president.
There was an understanding that the chancellor would protect both Bolsonaro and his own national interests by avoiding ill-prepared and spontaneous meetings.
At the head of his government, the president’s statements in front of then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which bordered on indiscretion, attracted the attention of experienced ambassadors.
In late 2021, during the G20 summit, the column observed and filmed Bolsonaro’s isolation in the room as leaders discussed the fate of the planet and the pandemic in informal conversations. When he finally went to meet with other heads of state and government, he ignored the German Olaf Scholz and even had a conversation with Tarip Erdogan, using the press and Petrobras to criticize issues that were not part of bilateral relations.
But diplomats’ sense of relief contrasts with fears that the absence will cost the country dearly. Today, Brazil is far from the negotiating table at one of the most critical moments in the formation of a new international order.
In the past three months, leading world leaders have multiplied phone calls to seek solutions to the epidemic and the war in Ukraine. But the Planalto Palace phone seldom rang. Neither Joe Biden, nor Emmanuel Macron, nor Olaf Scholz, nor UN Secretary-General Antônio Guterres bothered to find out what the Brazilian president had to say on global affairs.
If Brazilian diplomacy has been working behind the scenes since Ernesto Araújo left to pursue contacts undermined by the follower administration of Olavo de Carvalho, everyone agrees that some of the main issues should be led by the head of state.
Without the attention of the president, diplomats began to act in hopes of restoring the “normality” of Brazil’s relations with its traditional partners or occupying relevant positions in institutions such as the WHO (World Health Organization). The Chancellor also celebrated the loss of relevance of Olavo de Carvalho’s followers in formulating foreign policy.
Chancellor Carlos França was lauded by parts of Itamaraty for his efforts to try to calm a rising atmosphere of tension and anger within the ministry over the ideological usurpation of foreign policy. He also gave clear instructions to some of his ambassadors to take a less rigid stance in various international organisations.
But Bolsonaro’s absence from the scene did not mean the end of a parallel diplomacy constructed by representatives of the most conservative wings within the government. In this case, the aim is to create a new international agenda based on “traditional family” values and the restriction of certain women’s rights.
As this week’s column reveals, the Ministry of Family, Women and Human Rights has set a goal of expanding the international lobby against abortion and broadening alliances with ultra-conservative governments. The latest to join the project was Colombia, which joined the bloc this Friday which also includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and, of course, Brazil.
source: Noticias
