RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Conservative president Jair Bolsonaro canceled his planned meeting with the leftist Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza in Brazil today.
Bolsonaro was outraged to learn that the Portuguese leader would use his time in São Paulo, where he is attending the Book Biennial, speaking with former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also a leftist, who leads all polls for the presidency of Brazil in the coming elections in October.
Marcelo de Souza had said on January 27, at the opening of the Oceânica Conference, that besides meeting Bolsonaro and participating in events to celebrate the 200 years of Brazil’s independence, he would also talk to two former Brazilian presidents: Lula da Silva and Michel Temer.
The Portuguese president’s trip to Brazil aims to strengthen relations between the two countries. From a political point of view, bilateral relations have never been so far apart. The Brazilian government has not taken clear and consistent measures to strengthen ties with the Portuguese.
Bolsonaro is the only Brazilian president since the democratic regime who has not visited Portugal. The disinterest of the Palácio does Planalto has not gone unnoticed in Portuguese diplomacy.
The timing of Marcelo de Souza’s trip to Brazil is unique. This year marks the bicentennial of Brazil’s independence from Europe. The commemorations in Brazil and Portugal are associated with significant events, even if they are far from the Planalto Palace. The objective, at least on the part of the Portuguese government, is to clarify how important relations with Brazil are.
More than that, there is a significant influx of Brazilians to the European country. And this time, the rich are arriving from the other side of the Atlantic, with their eyes set on the excellent living conditions there, starting with safety.
Brazilians are the largest group of foreigners living in Portugal – one-third of the total population. Officially, there are almost 205 thousand, but it is estimated that there are more than 300 thousand citizens.
The Portuguese president will use his visit to Brazil to learn more about politics, especially the presidential elections that will take place in October. Nobody in the Portuguese government officially dares to predict the outcome of the Planalto race. But behind the scenes, the crowd is cheering Bolsonaro’s defeat.
Even so, there will be no demonstrations that cause embarrassment. The Brazilian government has been instructed to focus on the positive side of the story. Marcelo de Souza’s agenda is to propose the Portuguese government’s perspective.
Former Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva says Brazil and Portugal have much in common. But there is a necessary will to overcome divergences. “It is necessary to go beyond the issue of affection, of feeling, and turn to practical issues, such as trade,” he adds.
For him, it is impossible that Brazil, the tenth-largest economy in the world, is responsible for only 1% of world exports and is only Portugal’s thirteenth trading partner. “There is a lack of complementarity between the two countries,” he says.