BRASILIA — The U.S. President Joe Biden was concerned that his Brazilian counterpart would not attend the summit in Los Angeles this week. He sent a close advisor to personally deliver the invitation Jair Bolsonaro.
According to three ministers from the Brazilian Cabinet, the gesture was met by a demand.
Bolsonaro stated that he would only attend the Summit of the Americas if Biden allowed him a private meeting. The officials also said that he did not intend to confront him about some of the most contentious topics between the men.
According to officials speaking on condition of anonymity, he didn’t want to be criticised over the Amazon deforestation or to be warned about his doubts about the reliability of the Brazilian electoral system as he prepares for campaigning for another term.
The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department didn’t answer questions regarding the preconditions requested.
The demand, regardless of whether Biden bites his tongue or not, is a reminder that there is still a gap between them as they prepare to meet for their first one on one meeting. Two ministers from Bolsonaro’s government stated that the meeting was scheduled for Thursday. The White House has yet to announce when it will take place.
Bolsonaro’s presence at the summit could help Biden to contain embarrassment about some leaders staying away. This is partly due to a dispute over whether all of the region’s countries were invited.
However, Bolsonaro’s public appearance could also cause friction. Bolsonaro’s constant criticism of Brazil’s electoral system is perhaps too much for Biden. He has stated that promoting democracy at home and abroad is part of his core mission.
Ted Piccone, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who works on Latin America issues, stated that “I don’t believe there’s any way around this.” “If Biden doesn’t speak up on this issue, it will be bad for his democracy agenda in the region as well as at home.”
Bolsonaro, a far-right ally to former President Donald Trump was one of the last heads of states to recognize Biden’s victory. Bolsonaro also accused Biden last year of not recognising him at the summit of world leaders in Rome. He said: “He went along as if he did not exist.”
Biden ran for the presidency in 2012, and he criticised Brazil for increasing deforestation of the Amazon. Bolsonaro’s administration tried to show commitment to reducing the destruction after Biden was elected. Bolsonaro’s administration made efforts to increase its commitments at the U.N. Climate talks in Glasgow, and held regular bilateral meetings with U.S. officials.
These conversations were halted when data revealed that there was still deforestation. The latest annual reading was the worst for 15 years.
Piccone stated, “This is heading in the wrong direction.” “If Biden can convince Bolsonaro that the damage is being stopped, then that would be a victory.”
Brazil is the second-most populous democracy in the hemisphere, after the U.S. Bolsonaro’s position ahead of his reelection campaign has caused alarm both at home and in Washington.
His political foe, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, a leftist former President, will be his opponent. Bolsonaro enjoys strong support from his base but early polls show that da Silva is ahead well before the October election. Although the campaign officially begins in August, both Bolsonaro und da Silva have already held rallies.
Bolsonaro claims that polls don’t accurately reflect his support and has raised doubts about the use of electronic voting machines in Brazilian elections since 1996. Bolsonaro claims that the electoral authority is opaque and accuses its members of bias against him.
Analysts and opposition lawmakers worry that Bolsonaro is planning to set the stage for a rejection of election results if he fails to secure a second term. They also fear Bolsonaro will encourage supporters to support a tropical version the U.S. Capitol Riot. Bolsonaro has repeatedly stated that only God can remove his from the presidency.
Luiz Edson Fachin (the president of the electoral authority) stated that democracy in Brazil is not a domestic problem in an interview on Tuesday with foreign correspondents. “Brazil’s democracy has great interest for Brazil, South America, Latin America, and all democratic countries around the globe.”
Two of Bolsonaro’s ministers were told by William Burns, CIA Director, at a meeting held at the U.S Embassy in Brasilia last July, that the president should stop attacking electoral systems. The meeting was conducted under condition of anonymity.
Brazil’s presidential palace declined to comment on a request about the tone of the Burns meeting. The CIA declined comment.
Bolsonaro pushed Brazil to the brink in an institutional crisis two months later when he rallied support to protest against the Supreme Court. He also told the crowd he wouldn’t listen to rulings by one of its justices. He eventually retracted his remarks and stated that he had made them in the heat.
He did not attack anyone for months. He has recently returned to his heated rhetoric, however.
“If necessary, we will go into war,” the president said to a Parana crowd on Friday. “I want my people to be by my side, aware of what they’re doing and for whom it is fighting.”
“He keeps preparing a coup,” Sen. Renan Calheiros told AP by phone. “The political parties must remain prepared, support Supreme Court, which is the country’s greatest bulwark, keep institutions strong and call the attention of all the world,” Sen. Renan Calheiros said to AP by phone.
Calheiros is one eight senators who are part of an informal watchdog group. This year, the group has met to discuss Bolsonaro’s comments and how they get traction among civilians as well as police and military. Calheiros stated that the group also includes Supreme Court justices as well as members of electoral authority.
Juan Gonzalez, National Security Council’s Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere, stated Wednesday that the U.S. is confident in Brazil’s electoral process.
He didn’t mention if this issue would be brought up at the bilateral meeting between Biden and Bolsonaro. He stated that they would discuss global issues, including possible food security, economic responses to the pandemic, and health security.
Thomas Traumann, a Brazilian political analyst, said that if Biden does not push Bolsonaro towards respecting election results, he could legitimize the Brazilian leader’s recent challenge to authorities.
Traumann, whose uncle was an important aide to Biden, stated by telephone, “I only see the downside for Biden.”
He said that the Summit of the Americas was supposed to promote democracy. However, Biden will be photographed alongside President Bolsonaro and that doesn’t mean that he will accept the election results.
Bolsonaro can, for his part use the meeting to counter criticisms at home that he is isolated internationally and lacks access the U.S. president. Rubens Barbosa is a former Brazilian ambassador in Washington and is president of the Institute of International Relations and Foreign Trade. This think tank is based in Sao Paulo.
Bolsonaro hasn’t had many bilateral meetings during his three years in office. In 2019, and 2020, he met with Trump during his visits to Washington, Mar-a-Lago and Kiev. A few weeks prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bolsonaro met in Moscow with Vladimir Putin and then in Budapest with Viktor Orban, the Hungarian leader.
