In Tug-of-war With Macron, Bolsonaro Asks Trump for Help

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After rejecting French president Emmanuel Macron‘s announced sending of US$20 million (R$80 million) on behalf of the G7, president Jair Bolsonaro asked his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, for help. He sent Chancellor Ernesto Araújo and one of his sons, federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, to meet with Trump on Friday, August 30th.

“Maybe there will be news soon. Ernesto and Eduardo are in the United States. Maybe they have something to say about their meeting with Trump. I asked Trump to help us. Trump has also said that they couldn’t decide without consulting Brazil. Brazil is everybody’s friend, and I’m a diplomat. I am a person of dialogue,” said Bolsonaro yesterday, August 30th, when asked about the funds provided by the G7.

In a tug-of-war with the French president, Bolsonaro also received a call from German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday afternoon. The president said that the conversation was very productive and that the chancellor reaffirmed Brazilian sovereignty in the Amazon region.

A note sent by the spokesman of the Presidency of the Republic, Otávio Rêgo Barros, points out that the conversation between the two leaders was frank and cordial and that the president thanked “the efforts of the countries to collaborate with Brazil in the mission to combat the seasonal fires that now affect the Legal Amazon.”

The president also reaffirmed the Brazilian position of not considering any discussion about the sovereignty of the Amazon and also about the use of “any resources and support that may be granted to Brazil.”

When asked about his comments in the wake of Germany’s suspension of the Amazon Fund, saying that Germany should use the funds to reforest its own territory, Bolsonaro said that the message would apply to the whole of Europe.

“You want to make it difficult now, don’t you? It’s not just Germany, it’s the whole of Europe put together, they have nothing to teach us about preserving the environment,” said Bolsonaro about the statement.

On Friday morning, Bolsonaro again criticized the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and said that he would only accept to speak to him should he retract his claim that the globalization of the Amazon is open to debate.