Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticized “unilateral and selective” sanctions against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly but avoided naming the country directly.
Bolsonaro added that Brazil is against “diplomatic and economic isolation” and that the consequences of this policy are already being felt in rising food and fuel prices.
“Countries that presented themselves as pioneers of a low-carbon economy are now using dirty energy sources,” he criticized, pointing out that the sanctions are hurting the recovery of the economy and European countries that apply them.
Bolsonaro stressed that Brazil has always tried not to block the channels of dialogue and called for insisting on this path.
The Brazilian leader also advocated an “immediate ceasefire,” protecting civilians and non-combatants, and critical infrastructure to support the population.
He also thanked countries that helped evacuate Brazilians who were in Ukraine when the conflict broke out months ago: Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
Jair Bolsonaro also criticized former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), pointing to corruption and the Petrobras oil company.
The president stated that most of the Amazon remains “untouched” despite heavy deforestation in recent years.
Bolsonaro announced that Brazil remains “a source of credibility” regarding sustainable development and that two-thirds of the territory still has native vegetation.
“As with the discovery of Brazil in the 1500s, more than 80% of the forest remains untouched in the Amazon, contrary to what is reported by the national and international media.”
Unlike other occasions in which Bolsonaro denied official data on deforestation and fires, he did not go into detail, limiting himself to saying that in protecting the environment, “we must not forget the people, recalling that more than 20 million people live in the Brazilian Amazon.”
He also stressed that Brazil has the cleanest energy matrix among the G20 countries and defended that the government has all the conditions to become a significant exporter of green hydrogen in the future.
The president also strongly defended the agriculture and livestock sector, one of the mainstays of his government, saying that without Brazil,” the planet would starve.”
Bolsonaro also highlighted the positive figures of the economy, with the decrease in unemployment and deflation in July and August.