RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One of the main discussions between the presidents would be to adopt a tougher stance on Nicolás Maduro’s chavista regime, the BBC reported. The US describes Venezuela as a funding state for terrorism and drug trafficking in the region, and has thus imposed a number of economic sanctions on the Venezuelan regime.
Since last year, Brazil, Colombia and the US have been pressing for Maduro’s removal from power and have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as acting president of Venezuela after he proclaimed himself head of state after accusing Maduro of election fraud. The president denies the charges.
According to US sources, Trump was expected to urge Bolsonaro to join these efforts. take even tougher measures against the Maduro government.
The Republican has been seeking to increase the focus of US attention and action on the American continent and to withdraw from disputes and armed actions in the Middle East and other regions of the world, which he considers of minor significance to the country.
Venezuela has been experiencing a severe economic and political crisis in recent years. Hyperinflation, high unemployment, the shortage of basic goods and the resurgence of authoritarian measures by the Maduro government have already led more than four million Venezuelans to leave the country, the majority of them – 1.5 million – going to Colombia.
The dinner between Trump and Bolsonaro occurred only three days after the Brazilian government ordered the withdrawal of its entire national diplomatic staff from the neighboring country, and ordered the Venezuelan representatives of the Maduro government to leave Brazilian territory, which represents a rupture of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Venezuela.
The meeting would also include discussions on how to deepen bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
Both Bolsonaro and Trump have already expressed their interest in signing a free trade agreement, and the bureaucracy of both countries has been working to dissolve the so-called “commercial annoyances,” sectors of the economy in which the countries have conflicting interests.
One of these sectorial annoyances was dissolved last month, when the Americans released their domestic market for Brazilian beef, which had been barred for some years, supposedly on health grounds.
According to Trump’s advisors, the US concern regarding the entry of Chinese companies, such as Huawei, into the Brazilian 5G market would also be addressed at the American’s meeting with Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian government excluded Folha newspaper from the coverage of the dinner in Florida. A group of 15 Brazilian journalists was selected by the Planalto. Among the media outlets chosen by Bolsonaro’s team are TV stations Globo, Record, Band and SBT, news agencies Bloomberg, Reuters and AFP, Jovem Pan radio, the BBC Brazil and Metropolis websites, O Globo and O Estado de S. Paulo newspapers, and the EBC public broadcaster.
Around 9 PM, Brasília time, Bolsonaro shared on his Facebook profile a photo of Folha’s article on the subject, but did not comment on it.
This is his fourth trip to the United States in less than 15 months. He is the Brazilian head of state who has visited the country the most often, proportionally to his term in office, during the past 35 years, after the military dictatorship permitted presidential elections.