Shame and shame. This is how Itamaraty and some prominent Brazilian diplomats received reports that President Jair Bolsonaro had requested assistance from Joe Biden in the October election. But the maneuver has also been interpreted as a move by the Brazilian in search of an alliance that would save him from defeat.
This gesture was seen as an “insult” to national sovereignty and even violated the principles of independence.
The embarrassment was heightened when the US government’s response was to simply change the subject.
One of the comments in the Chancellery is that Bolsonaro is trying to present himself to the American president as the best option for American interests in the region, as he had before Trump.
This includes privatization, signing defense agreements such as NATO partnerships and purchasing military equipment, as well as a commitment to compliance. Of course, as long as the Americans support it.
There is an acknowledgment within the American government that Bolsonaro has already proven that he can be a loyal ally to the Trump administration on different themes and in international organisations. But for this you need the Biden seal.
Faced with behavior like Bolsonaro’s, Americans face a dilemma: defend Brazilian democracy or defend their own interests.
But this does not take away the embarrassment of the unusual expression. Internally, Itamaraty was creating a system between Bolsonaro and foreign leaders where he avoided scheduling bilateral meetings between events and summits.
The aim was to maintain the foreign policy credibility accumulated over the decades while implementing a “damage control” strategy.
In the first weeks of Bolsonaro’s government, the risks of bilateral talks are already starting to show in Itamaraty. In January 2019, in Davos, the president even made a joke that bordered on thoughtlessness in front of then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After a few seconds of silence, the Asian leader laughed. And everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Months later, at a meeting in a UN corridor in New York, Bolsonaro would declare his support for then-US President Donald Trump. The most recent event that caused a sting in the government was Bolsonaro’s speech in front of Vladimir Putin that Brazil showed solidarity with the Russians. He even hinted that his tenure had led to Moscow withdrawing some of its troops, days before the worst war in decades began.
The next day, he once again aroused uneasiness when he and Hungarian Viktor Orban declared that his government was defending “homeland, family and God”, a slogan of the far right.
source: Noticias
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