Bolsonaro faces test on world stage
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will head to New York tomorrow in an attempt to defuse the international outcry over the fires raging through the Amazon while simultaneously asserting the country’s right to develop the rainforest as it sees fit.
Until recently, few countries enjoyed such widespread affection as Brazil did, with its tradition of multilateral and “soft power” diplomacy, its unrivalled footballing prowess and vast natural beauty. But Bolsonaro will address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday amid global indignation over his Government’s handling of the deforestation in the Amazon.
Brazil’s Government believes the international criticism is unfair, but its actions show that it’s worried, including about the potential economic consequences. Fund managers with more than US$16 trillion in assets have demanded action on deforestation, while European lawmakers are lining up to attack the trade deal between the European Union and the South American trade bloc that Brazil leads, Mercosur. Austria’s Parliament rejected the agreement.
In response, the Bolsonaro Administration launched a public relations campaign asserting Brazil’s sovereignty over the Amazon and commitment to protecting and sustainably developing the rainforest. Now the President is taking that message to the UN.
“The United Nations General Assembly could be a great opportunity for Brazil to present and clarify its foreign policy,” said Sergio Amaral, Brazil’s ambassador to Washington until earlier this year. It’s also a chance to demonstrate its “commitment to sensitive issues for the international community, like the environment”.
The question remains of how Bolsonaro can both calm fears over deforestation while asserting Brazil’s right to develop the Amazon.
“I am preparing a fairly objective speech,” the President said. “No one is going to fight with anyone, you can rest assured.”
In the same breath, however, he said that he’d receive a beating in the
press, no matter what he said, and that some countries were more interested in buying up the Amazon than saving it.
For the Government the international outcry is vastly disproportionate to the amount of environmental damage.
The outrage over the Amazon fires clearly has the potential to harm Brazil. The US clothing company VF Corporation, which owns Timberland, Kipling Bags and The North Face, has suspended Brazilian leather purchases, and Norway’s two biggest investors have warned global companies against contributing to environmental damage. Brazilian embassies have also been targeted by protesters.