Pointing to prolonged tensions with his American counterpart Joe Biden, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro admitted at the Summit of the Americas on Thursday that Brazil “feels threatened in our sovereignty” but nonetheless emphasised on the “strategic importance” of ties with the United States (US).
Hinting at Biden’s repeated criticisms of Brazil’s environmental policies, particularly in the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro remarked, “Sometimes we feel threatened in our sovereignty in that area. But Brazil preserves its territory very well.” He conceded that Brazil faces certain “difficulties” but nonetheless argued that “we are an example to the world on the environmental issue.”
To this end, Bolsonaro reportedly told Biden that 85% of the Amazon rainforest falls under protected areas, where legislation is “quite strict.” He also remarked that the responsibility for the preservation of the rainforest lies not just with Brazil, but the world, and thus called for global financing support during his meeting with the US leader.
Bolsonaro also hit out at international concerns that he may refuse to acknowledge the results of the October election if he loses, given that he has previously claimed that the electronic voting system in the country is susceptible to fraud, despite independent experts suggesting otherwise, and even threatened to bring in the armed forces. He has doubled down on these threats as his opponent, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, skips ahead of him in opinion polls.
“This year, we have elections in Brazil, and we do want clean, reliable, and auditable elections, so that we don't have any doubt after the election,” he said, adding, “I'm sure it will be held in this democratic spirit. I have arrived for democracy and I am sure that when I leave the government, it will also be democratic.”
President Bolsonaro, who travels with a large qualified delegation - including the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Congressman Arthur Lira -will join President Joe Biden in a bilateral meeting to discuss the remarkable trade relationship between Brazil and the United States pic.twitter.com/Wi5Il8QLEs
— Government of Brazil (@govbrazil) June 9, 2022
Regarding bilateral ties, Bolsonaro stated that he has “a huge interest in getting closer and closer to the US,” claiming that the two countries have “200 years of good partnership” but have “distanced from each other due to perhaps ideological issues” on a “few” occasions.
He added, “"Brazil and the U.S. have everything to seal their trade relations by materialising the North-South axis, because our countries complement each other and we have everything to integrate more and more and be an example to the world.”
To this end, the pair aimed to use their conversation to find points of convergence, particularly in terms of food security. On this topic, Bolsonaro asserted that the world “depends heavily on Brazil for its survival,” as it “feeds more than 1 billion people.”
Echoing Bolsonaro’s calls to find areas where they can agree, Biden praised Brazil for its “vibrant, inclusive democracy and strong electoral institutions” and said the two countries are “linked by deeply rooted shared values” that must be leveraged to fuel a “global economic recovery.”
Furthermore, he commented that Brazil has made “real sacrifices” in its attempts to “protect the Amazon.” He also acknowledged Bolsonaro’s requests for global financing support, saying, “I think the rest of the world should be participating in helping you finance being able to preserve as much as you can. It seems like it’s an international responsibility because we all benefit from it.”
Following their public interaction, the two leaders held a 45-minute behind-closed-doors meeting. A statement released after this meeting, said bilateral ties between “two of the world’s largest democracies” holds great “strategic importance,” particularly in responding to climate change and food crises. Keeping this in mind, Biden endorsed Brazil’s candidacy to join the 38-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, after Bolsonaro recently claimed that France and Belgium are blocking its application over environmental concerns. That being said, Biden also pressed his Brazilian counterpart to ensure “sustainable development” and “dramatically reduce deforestation.”
These calls for greater collaboration between the two countries were a frequent topic in press conferences by White House officials in the lead up to the meeting. On Monday, an unnamed senior White House official admitted that the two sides “have some disagreements” but that they also share a “significant set of common interests and concerns.”
Aware that Biden needed him at the Summit of the Americas to avoid a diplomatic flop, Bolsonaro asked for a bilateral meeting, something the US government would not have offered to Brazil's president under normal circumstances.
— Oliver Stuenkel 🇧🇷 (@OliverStuenkel) June 8, 2022
These tensions between the two leaders have meant that they have never met or even spoken before this week. In fact, the right-wing Brazilian leader had earlier threatened to boycott the US hosted summit, but the promise of a bilateral meeting pushed him to confirm his attendance, wherein he said, “It is like a marriage; you accept my flaws, I accept yours and let’s be happy.”
Bolsonaro had in fact even insisted that Biden must not criticise his efforts in addressing Amazon’s deforestation or pose questions about Brazil’s voting systems as the country gears up for its Presidential elections in October.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, however, said at a press briefing on Wednesday that “there are no topics off limits” in the meeting and that Biden will discuss “open, free, fair, and transparent democratic elections” as well as “tangible action to protect the Amazon from further deforestation.”
Bolsonaro shared close ties with Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, given that they were much more ideologically aligned on topics such as the coronavirus, the environment, gun rights, the LGBTQ community, and relations with Russia. Prior to his meeting with Biden this week, Bolsonaro acknowledged this, saying, “With Trump, everything was going very well, when Biden came in, there was just a freeze ... I saw him at the G20, he passed by as if I didn’t exist.”
- Dear Mark Ruffles, calm dowm! I'm sure you have never read the Brazilian Constitution, but I can assure you it's nothing like the complicated Hulk scripts you have to memorize:"AHGFRR". Read it and you'll find out I'm not only respecting it, but protecting Brazil's rule of law. https://t.co/djBbccMAPX
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) June 10, 2022
Bolsonaro has also echoed Trump’s concerns about mail-in ballots with his own country’s electronic voting system, and even went as far as casting doubt on Biden’s electoral victory, saying it was “suspicious.” In fact, he was one of the last leaders to recognise the Biden presidency.
However, in a turn of events on Thursday, he said that Trump’s presidency is “the past,” and that “the president is now Joe Biden, he’s the one I talk to.”
Their meeting comes against the backdrop of massive deforestation in the Amazon rainforest since Bolsonaro came to power in 2019. He is accused of giving free rein to illegal loggers, ranchers and land speculators, and of reducing environmental regulations and protections for Indigenous communities to allow for more commercial mining and farming in order to grow the economy. He has even said that deforestation is part of the “cultural” fabric of Brazil and will “never stop”.
Deforestation reached a 15-year high in 2021. Moreover, data from the country's national space research agency, suggests that this figure is only rising, with deforestation between January and March of this year 64% higher than during the same period last year.
While in the US, Bolsonaro is expected to participate in the deliberative session of the Summit on Friday and travel to Orlando to inaugurate the Brazilian consular headquarters.