Opinion: Bolsonaro’s Campaign Speech at UN Shows His Determination to Run for Re-election

RIBEIRÃO PRETO, BRAZIL – As noted in a prior column, Jair Bolsonaro’s 2018 campaign platform stated that he would NOT be a candidate for re-election if he won. Recent events have shown he does not intend to honor that pledge.

If there were still any lingering doubts about Bolsonaro’s intentions, he dispelled them, albeit sub silentio, by his speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly.

The speech was decidedly undiplomatic, as he rained ire and fire upon his prospective campaign enemies: (a) Latin American “socialism”; (b) foreigners threatening Brazil’s sovereignty over the Amazon; (c) “gender ideology”; and (d) the mainstream news media.

In other words, he gave a full-throated campaign speech carefully designed to encourage his principal supporters—agribusiness, neoliberal economists, the military, and of course evangelicals.

Only a political campaign can explain: (a) his references to “socialist” Cuba and Venezuela; (b) his barbs at “colonialist” Europeans; (c) his claim that indigenous do not want to remain “cavemen”; and (d) his emphasis upon “traditional” family values.

Moreover, he is following a crucial part of any re-election playbook: treat anything critical of you, your family, or your policies, as “fake news” exploited by the media.

Bolsonaro’s UN speech offers several examples involving Amazonia:

Claim 1: The Amazon rainforest is “practically untouched”, and Brazil is among the “most environmentally protective” countries in the world.

Claim 2: Amazon forest fires are normal this time of year and are under control, notwithstanding mainstream media publishing scary numbers.

Claim 3: It is “fallacious” to say Amazonia is the lungs of the world, and the patrimony of all humanity.

Claim 4: Chief Raoni is a “pawn” of European interests, as most indigenous peoples wish to share in the riches (both soil and subsoil) of Amazonia, rather than being mere subsistence farmers.

So, is Bolsonaro right on these issues? Put another way, is he saying the things he believes Brazilian voters will support?

Item 1: “[P]ractically untouched” sounds exaggerated, because some 15% of the rainforest has now disappeared, up from 3% some 35 years ago. Still, most Brazilians think of Amazonia as limitless, huge beyond their dreams, hence 15% does not sound very bad.

Item 2: Forest fires are indeed normal this time of year; this year was bad but there have been worse years in the recent past; the Army seems to have brought the fires under control. In other words, there is no Amazonian ecological crisis, notwithstanding all the scary headlines from the mainstream media, which his most fanatical supporters despise.

Item 3: It is indeed fallacious to describe Amazonia as the lungs of the world, when scientists know the true lungs of the world are the oceans. Worse, treating Amazonia as patrimony of all humanity is anathema to all Brazilians. Even former Presidents Lula and Dilma, who disagree with Bolsonaro on all else, have recently supported him on this point.

Item 4: Chief Raoni became famous in 1989, when he and Sting trailed around the capitals of Europe, singing the praises of aboriginal sylvan life. Europeans still see him as embodying the “noble savage” in an idyllic, unsullied setting, which is what they want Amazonia to remain.

Many Brazilian indigenous tribes, however, are not satisfied with this “nobility”. Some tribes have business arrangements with miners and loggers, to work within their reservations, while neoliberals, agribusiness and the military applaud from the sidelines.

On balance, this column believes Bolsonaro’s UN speech went down well with his supporters, as it was designed to do, both for its content and for its aggressive “macho” tone.