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President Jair Bolsonaro hinted on Tuesday that he may have to use force to circumvent potential economic sanctions imposed by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden in response to Brazil’s contested action on the environmental issue. “Brazil is a very rich country. We just saw a great candidate for head of state. [Biden, que já está eleito] say that if I don’t put out the fire in the Amazon, trade barriers will be raised against Brazil. And how can we deal with all this? Diplomacy alone is not enough, is it, Ernesto? ”He said, referring to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Araújo, who was in the audience. “Because when you run out of saliva, you have to have gunpowder, if not, it doesn’t work. You don’t even need to use gunpowder, but you should know that you have it, “he concluded.
The bellicose phrase, uttered during an event in Brasilia in which Bolsonaro sought to promote national tourism, was a response by the president to plans to preserve the Biden forest. The president-elect cited the Amazon twice during the campaign. In a debate during the election campaign, he mentioned burning in the Amazon. On another occasion, he spoke of possible sanctions against Brazil. Biden is critical of the successive records of burning and devastated areas recorded by the country. “Stop destroying the forest. And if it doesn’t stop, it will face significant economic consequences, ”he said during a debate against Trump in late September. At the time, Bolsonaro called the declaration “disastrous” and kept betting his chips on a Republican victory. The Brazilian Brazilian President, a fervent supporter of Donald Trump, has yet to congratulate the Democrat on his victory, unlike most world leaders.
However, Biden’s plans to preserve the forest are not limited to possible financial penalties. During the campaign, he proposed the creation of a fund of 20 billion dollars (about 100 billion reais) with other countries to guarantee the protection of the Amazon.
Should the United States implement economic sanctions against Brazil, it will not be the first time that the devastation of the forest has caused economic problems for Bolsonaro. In 2019, several countries, including Germany and Norway, blocked resources that would be transferred to the Amazon Fund, administered by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and whose purpose is to preserve the biome. The move was intended to force the president to act to contain the devastation there.
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