Jair Bolsonaro May Not Attend United Nations Opening Ceremony, Say Advisors

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Although President Jair Bolsonaro said two weeks ago and reiterated on Monday that he would attend the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations “even in a wheelchair”, members of the Palácio do Planalto are admitting that the Chief Executive may not attend the event next week in New York, in the United States.

The official arguments put forward are merely medical restrictions. Bolsonaro is recovering from a surgical procedure to correct a hernia performed on September 8th.

However, even before the medical procedure, some advisors had privately considered that, after controversies involving the fires in the Amazon rainforest, there was also a potential political risk of protests.

Among the president’s assistants and relatives, there is disagreement about whether or not he should attend the UN. The medical team that performed the last surgery and people close to Bolsonaro recommend that he should not travel in order to preserve his health.

Another group argues that the moment is crucial for Bolsonaro’s government to position itself before the international community and defend the sovereignty of the Amazon, following the clash with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he would not sign the European Union’s agreement with Mercosur unless the country preserved the forest. Bolsonaro, for his part, “wants to go anyway,” according to an advisor.

One other advisor said on Tuesday afternoon that his chances of going to the United States have narrowed. Earlier in the evening, presidential spokesman Otávio do Rêgo Barros conceded that Bolsonaro’s visit to the United Nations is “under review”. According to him, the confirmation will only come after Bolsonaro is submitted to a new medical team assessment on Friday morning. Rêgo Barros stressed that the president is recovering well and said that the trip is “virtually settled”.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Palácio do Planalto removed from the trip’s schedule the stop in Dallas, Texas, where he would have a quick meeting with businessmen linked to the United States military sector.

Bilateral meetings with the seven heads of state that were still being aligned have also been suspended. Meetings with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, and President Donald Trump of the United States, as well as talks with the leaders of Poland, Colombia, Peru, Ukraine, and South Africa have been removed from the schedule.