President Joe Biden did not engage in confrontation in his first in-person meeting with conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, likely disappointing leftist activists who flooded Los Angeles with photos of the latter urging Biden to condemn him in the past week.
The two met in California during the ongoing Summit of the Americas. Speaking through a translator, they both complimented each other’s countries and agreed on the need for America and Brazil to strengthen economic ties and expand environmental cooperation. Bolsonaro lamented that “ideology” had made the two countries drift apart and took the time to condemn the coronavirus lockdown policies that Biden has championed, but Biden did not reciprocate with any public criticism of Bolsonaro.
Biden’s attitude at the meeting stands in stark contrast to his unprompted threat during a debate in 2020 against then-President Donald Trump in 2020 to destroy the Brazilian economy or his repeated laments that Bolsonaro’s policies are not “green” enough for his liking. Further jeopardizing the potential of Thursday’s meeting were remarks Bolsonaro made last week in confirming that he would travel to Los Angeles, lamenting that Biden’s “age” had made him act bizarrely at past conferences.
“You’ve made some real sacrifices as a country in the way you’ve tried to protect the Amazon, which is a great carbon sink in the world,” Biden told Bolsonaro during Thursday’s meeting, according to the White House transcript of his remarks. “And 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.”
Biden also complimented Brazil’s “inclusive democracy and … strong electoral institutions,” a reference to October’s scheduled presidential election, which establishment journalists have interpreted as a slight against the incumbent running for reelection.
Bolsonaro responded by saying that America and Brazil “have a great deal in common,” including “the same values.” He acknowledged that “at times, we feel threatened in our sovereignty in that region of the country,” potentially a reference to Biden’s threats against Brazil, as well as remarks by European leftist leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron’s condemnation of Bolsonaro for allegedly not doing enough to protect the Amazon Rainforest.
“We are tremendously interested in drawing closer and closer ties with the United States,” Bolsonaro continued. “We have experienced almost 200 years of good partnership in our history. A few times, here and there, we may have distanced from each other due to perhaps ideological issues.”
“But I am quite certain,” he concluded, “that with the advent of my administration, our both administrations have never had such a great opportunity, given the many affinities or shared areas of interest we have.”
Elsewhere in his slightly longer remarks during the public part of the meeting, Bolsonaro condemned global leaders who implemented Chinese coronavirus lockdowns, calling it a “mistaken policy.” Brazil experienced lockdowns because, as a federalist system, governors could override Bolsonaro’s opposition and implement them in their own states. A study published in February found that child illiteracy rose 66 percent during the time that lockdowns were in place.
“Given our reliance on certain foreign players, we have to be cautious,” Bolsonaro said, “always cautious, because the consequences following the pandemic and the mistaken policy, in my view, of ‘stay at home and we’ll take care of the economy later on,’ … the economic consequences in effect are harmful and felt by all of us — and, in Brazil, especially harmful towards the more vulnerable segments of the population, who have to face inflation in foodstuffs as well as in energy prices.”
The White House readout of their meeting following the joint press event highlighted climate policy and environmental issues. Itamaraty, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, instead emphasized “the challenge of global food security and much needed responses to shortages in the fertilizer market.”
Bolsonaro gave the meeting a glowing review in remarks to journalists after it had concluded.
“It was exceptional, a lot better than I expected,” he said, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo. “There is a very large interest, yes, from the USA to Brazil, and the reciprocal is true. And if we can really consolidate, expand this North-South axis, that would be good for everyone.”
Bolsonaro teased that he was hoping for more meetings with Biden.
On Twitter, where the Brazilian president is often most prolific, Bolsonaro did not mention the meeting with Biden, but, instead, spent the evening insulting Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo.
Ruffalo was amplifying protests throughout Los Angeles against Bolsonaro, pressuring Biden to condemn him. Far-left radical organizations such as Greenpeace plastered the city with attack ads against the Brazilian president’s presence in the city.
Some small protests also occurred.
Biden had once used the same incendiary tone towards Bolsonaro prior to becoming president, though he failed to confront Bolsonaro at all on Thursday. During a debate in September 2020, Biden appeared to promise to use the strength of the American economy to destroy Brazil’s economy.
“Brazil, the rainforests of Brazil are being torn down, are being ripped down. More carbon is absorbed in that rainforest than every bit of carbon that’s emitted in the United States,” Biden said at the time. “Instead of doing something about that, I would be gathering up and making sure we had the countries of the world coming up with $20 billion, and say, ‘Here’s $20 billion. Stop, stop tearing down the forest. And if you don’t, then you’re going to have significant economic consequences.’”
Biden did not explain where the $20 billion figure came from. He was not responding to a question about Brazil or any foreign policy, leaving viewers, including Bolsonaro, perplexed.
“The Democratic candidate to the US presidency, Joe Biden, stated yesterday that he could pay us as much as US$20 billion to stop the ‘destruction’ of the Amazon Rainforest adding that, if we did not accept this offer, he would then impose serious economic sanctions on our country,” Bolsonaro wrote in a response shortly thereafter. “What some have not yet understood is that Brazil has changed. Its President, unlike the left-wing presidents of the past, does not accept bribes, criminal land demarcations, or coward threats towards our territorial and economic integrity. OUR SOVEREIGNTY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.”
“What a shame, Mr. John [sic] Biden, what a shame!” the president wrote then.
Two months later, Bolsonaro appeared to be threatening to declare war on Biden’s America.
“There was recently a great candidate to head of state who said that if I don’t shut down the Amazon fires, he is going to put up commercial barriers,” Bolsonaro told reporters. “How are we going to face that? Diplomacy alone is not enough. When the saliva runs out, you need gunpowder; otherwise, it doesn’t work. We have the gunpower. They need to know we have it. That’s the world.”
More recently, last week, Bolsonaro told reporters that he had seen Biden at the recent G20 summit but that Biden ignored him.
“I met with him at the G-20 [summit in October], and he passed me by as if I didn’t exist,” Bolsonaro said, “but that is how he treated everyone; I don’t know if it’s his age.”
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