Bolsonaro loses Foreign and Defense ministers in a single day (March 29)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took a hit on Monday, March 29th, with the foreign and defense ministers’ departures, just days after the health minister was replaced in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The resignation of Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo has been confirmed by official sources but not by Bolsonaro, who has not yet pronounced on the matter or clarified whether he would accept it or not. However, when this issue was still being discussed, the news of the departure of General Fernando Azevedo e Silva from the Ministry of Defense arrived.

The military announced it in an official note, in which he did not clarify whether it was resignation or dismissal, but in which he stressed his “loyalty” to Bolsonaro while he was in office, a period in which he said he had “preserved the Armed Forces as institutions of the State”.

Both Araújo and Azevedo e Silva entered the Government along with Bolsonaro. On January 1, 2019, the former as a diplomat strongly identified with the ruler’s ultra-right ideology and the latter with a more institutional and non-ideological Armed Forces.

Both casualties in the Government follow the replacement, on March 22, of General Eduardo Pazuello as Minister of Health, replaced by cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga in the midst of an acceleration of the health crisis caused by Covid-19, which has already killed more than 312,000 people in the country.

In the case of Pazuello, the third health minister of the Bolsonaro government since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in February last year, his departure was the result of strong pressure from the more moderate right-wing, critical of his erratic management of the health crisis, which is even under judicial investigation.

The reasons for Araújo’s departure are similar, while the case of General Azevedo e Silva is not clear and his departure from the Government is shrouded in mystery, to the point that it is not confirmed whether he resigned or was asked to resign.

THE MORE MODERATE RIGHT FORCES THE CHANCELLOR’S RESIGNATION

Araújo’s resignation was confirmed by sources from the Government, Congress, and his own office. However, hours later, Bolsonaro still did not say a word on the matter, neither confirming or denying the foreign minister’s departure.

Even so, the Foreign Minister’s resignation was being demanded loudly by many parliamentarians, even from the pro-government base, who accused Araújo of having created friction with important Brazilian partners, which would have hindered the country’s access to anti-virus vaccines.

Araújo’s departure was publicly requested by the head of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, and by Senator Katia Abreu, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Upper House, who led a chorus swelled by leaders of both legislative chambers, both from the opposition and the ruling party.

The discomfort was based on the Chancellor’s criticism of China, the United States, and India, all key countries on the international scene that are important trade partners.

In China’s case, Araújo had direct friction with the Beijing ambassador in Brazil after questioning the efficacy of the anti-virus vaccines developed in that country and alluding to the origin of the virus, first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In a meeting with Indian authorities, he criticized globalism which, in his opinion, dominates the World Health Organization (WHO), and announced Brazil’s rejection of the proposal of that country and South Africa to suspend the patents of antiviral vaccines.

He thus countered the positions of two partners of the BRICS forum, including China and Russia, and is one of Brazil’s foreign policy instruments.

As for the United States, Araújo, like Bolsonaro, publicly supported Donald Trump’s reelection bid and even questioned the fairness of the elections finally won by the current president, Joe Biden.