President Jair Bolsonaro, who has never met with the world’s leading leaders and is rejected by democracies, will use his visit to New York this Tuesday to mobilize the world’s far-right. The Brazilian will be in the United States for the opening of the UN General Assembly and will not meet with the American, despite speaking a few minutes before Joe Biden.
According to Itamaraty, Ecuadorian presidents Guillermo Lasso are on Bolsonaro’s agenda; Alejandro Giammattei from Guatemala; Andrzej Duda from Poland; and Aleksandar Vucic from Serbia.
All represent ultra-conservative governments or far-right leaders in their respective countries with controversial agendas questioned by the European Democrats. It is still an insignificant group in the country’s foreign trade, diplomatic intervention, geopolitical issues and investment flows.
In the case of Guatemala, the Central American country was one of the new members of the alliance formed by Brazil to defend reactionary agendas on the international stage and at the UN. Giammattei joined the Geneva Consensus, a Brazilian-led bloc aimed at combating any reference to sexual education or reproductive health in international organisations. This may be because of the gap this can lead to an abortion.
Guatemala’s accession came after a study by Brazil’s parallel diplomacy led by Family Minister Angela Gandra. For many in the government, he acted as a kind of “shadow prime minister”.
A meeting with the Polish Duda is also planned. The Warsaw government, seen as one of the pillars of the far right in Europe, is accused of undermining the independence of the judiciary and adopting policies contrary to the rights of the LGBTI movement.
Bolsonaro had hoped to take a break in Poland in February this year, on his return from a visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Warsaw chose to distance itself from Russia’s allies and signaled that the meeting would not be appropriate. But Poles remain one of the pillars of the far-right movement around the world, where entities in Warsaw maintain privileged relations with members of Bolsonaro’s government.
The relationship with Ecuador also has an important place in the values agenda. The Brazilian government is trying to sew up Quito’s participation in the Geneva Accord bloc, including minimizing the impact of Colombia’s departure from the group after the victory of the progressive camp in Bogotá. Lasso is actually one of the last ideological allies of Bolsonarism in South America.
In the case of Serbia, the meeting also marks an attempt to approach one of the countries marked by a deep deterioration in democracy.
A few days ago, Vucic canceled the gay parade in Belgrade in response to pressure from religious groups. In 1995, still as a deputy, he promised Belgrade would kill 100 Muslims for every Serb killed in the Bosnian war. Three years later, he took over as Minister of Information in the government of Slobodan Milosevic, who was tried at the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
source: Noticias
