The relationship between the United States and Brazil is in the best shape it’s probably ever been. Their latest president, who the left have relentlessly smeared as some kind of quasi-fascist because he’s not a left-wing corruptocrat like his predecessors, has formed a good relationship with President Trump. That’s paid dividends in having a strong supporter in the largest nation in South America.
Of course, because that’s objectively a good thing, Joe Biden wants to tear it all down and reinstate the status quo just as he does with Iran in the Middle East. The former VP decided it’d be a good idea to lodge a ridiculous threat that he’d sanction Brazil if they didn’t accept what is basically a bribe to “protect” the Amazon rain forest.
Bolsonaro was having none of it. He put out a statement absolutely ripping Biden, to the point where I’m sure the media will claim it’s foreign interference in the election. Be sure and click the image in the tweet below as it’s the full English translation of the thread.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) September 30, 2020
This is the kind of garbage that has passed as good foreign policy for so long. Forcing a friendly country to take money to do what you want under the threat of economic sanctions is not diplomacy. It’s thuggish behavior and exactly the kind of thing Biden has been guilty of in the past. We all remember the tape of him threatening Ukraine.
Balsonaro is having none of it. He says he’s not like his predecessors and will not be bribed to give up his country’s sovereignty. Past that, the Amazon is not being “destroyed.” To the extent that more work needs to be done, Brazil still has incredibly strict laws in place to protect it. What this is really about is Biden taking a shot at a Trump-friendly foreign leader. There’s no actual common sense to threatening sanctions in this case.
Brazil’s president would go on to fret that he can’t understand why any US figure would even make such a declaration, but the answer is simple. Biden is not a smart man. This is a guy who has been on the wrong end of every major foreign policy decision of the last 40 years. Would anyone expect him to be any better in building relations with Brazil? Of course not. This is who Biden is and it’s why he doesn’t need to become president. It would be a disaster.
(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)
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