By Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro received a call from former New York City mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, who is an opponent of current mayor De Blasio, during a public debate on Friday.
According to the spokesman for the presidency, Otávio Rêgo Barros, Giuliani “apologized for the indelicacy of the current mayor”, and promised to come to Brazil soon.
“This afternoon our President Jair Bolsonaro received a call from former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani apologizing for the discourtesy of the current mayor. He congratulated President Jair Bolsonaro on his victory and leadership of the government and said he was prepared to visit us soon,” said Rêgo Barros.
Bolsonaro published a record of the call on a social network and claimed to be inspired by the “zero-tolerance” policy enforced by Giuliani in the city to reduce crime rates.
“We talked about our determination to restore law and order in Brazil,” he wrote. Currently, Giuliani works as an attorney for the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Disagreements between Bolsonaro and De Blasio began in April during a controversy over the Brazil-U.S. Chamber of Commerce tribute to the Brazilian president. Initially, the award was to be bestowed in New York, but the mayor made it clear that the Brazilian leader would not be welcome.
De Blasio accused the Brazilian president of being “racist, homophobic and destructive”. Bolsonaro retorted that the mayor was a radica; Bolsonaro received the support, among others, of vice-president Hamilton Mourão, who accused the American leader of offending all Brazilians.
The president canceled his visit to New York and moved his agenda to Dallas, Texas. He was replaced at the New York event by the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, who sent a message to De Blasio in his speech and asked the American to be courteous toward the president of Brazil.