RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Halfway through an inflammatory speech during an event at the Planalto Palace, President Jair Bolsonaro indirectly referred to the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, albeit not mentioning him by name, and said that diplomacy is not enough to “cope with all this”.
According to Bolsonaro, gunpowder is required, even if it is not used. He recalled that “a great candidate for head of state” said recently that he would impose trade barriers against Brazil unless he extinguished the Amazon fires.
“Anyone with wealth can’t say they are happy, no. One needs to be careful with one’s wealth. There are many scoundrels keeping an eye on it. Brazil is a very wealthy country. We just saw a great candidate for head of state say that unless I extinguish the Amazon fires, he will raise trade barriers against Brazil. How can we deal with all this? Diplomacy is not enough. Because when words run out, you need to have gunpowder, otherwise it doesn’t work. You don’t even need to use the gunpowder, but it must be known that you have it. This is the world,” declared the President, to an audience of tourism entrepreneurs who attended the sector’s “reopening ceremony” in the country.
Bolsonaro is one of the few heads of state in the world who has not yet acknowledged Biden’s victory over Donald Trump, whom he publicly supported.
In the first debate between Biden and Trump, on September 30th, the Democratic candidate mentioned one of his government’s focal points, the climate issue, and referred to Brazil when mentioning the leadership role that the United States should assume in the issue.
“The Amazon Forest in Brazil is being destroyed, uprooted. More CO2 is absorbed there than all the carbon emitted by the USA. I will try to make sure that countries around the world raise US$20 billion and tell Brazil: “Here is US$20 billion, stop devastating the forest. If you don’t stop, you’re going to face significant economic consequences,” said the Democratic candidate, not elaborating on what these consequences would be.
At the time, Bolsonaro said that Brazil would not accept “bribes” and classified the statement as “unfortunate”.
Bolsonaro also said that his government has the means to change Brazil’s fate and that the country “will not have another opportunity”. And he referred to the example of ex-president of Argentina Mauricio Macri, who tried to get reelected last year and was defeated by the slate of Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner.
“In Argentina, Macri is history, he failed to implement his policies. He began to take blows from his followers, as I am now too. Kirchner’s class, Dilma [Rousseff], [Nicolás] Maduro, Evo [Morales], who is back in Bolivia now, and now look at the situation, entrepreneurs having their assets expropriated, raising fees, interest and taxes. And Brazil can not head in this direction, my God in heaven.”
Source: O Globo