After several days of uncertainty, the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, finally shared on Saturday evening March 7 a dinner with Donald Trump, in Mar-a-Lago, in the vacation residence of the American president in Palm Beach, in Florida. Evidence of some confusion, the reunion between the two leaders, who met for the fourth time, was confirmed at the last minute, the day before departure, by the press service of Planalto, the Brazilian presidency.
“Brazil has really taken a turn, you are doing a fantastic job. (…) Brazil likes (Bolsonaro) and the United States likes it ", caught up with Donald Trump under the gilding of the "White House of the South", multiplying the compliments and the praise towards his evening guest, visibly delighted, qualified as "Very good friend" and of "Very special person" by the President.
Bolsonaro was on a four-day visit to the southern American state – home to a diaspora of 400,000 Brazilians. On the program of this stay, planned for weeks: entrepreneurial seminars, signing of commercial agreements, in particular in defense, exchanges with local politicians, visit of the South American command responsible for military actions on the subcontinent and a Brazilian airline manufacturer Embraer's website in Jacksonville…
Divided cabinet
Warm in appearance, the relationship between MM. Bolsonaro and Trump is more complex than it looks. Certainly, Mr. Bolsonaro has multiplied the signs of allegiance, aligning his positions with those of Mr. Trump. In 2019, Brazil thus voted against the lifting of the American embargo against Cuba at the UN (a major break in its diplomatic history), and in early 2020, applauded with both hands the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and supported the peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by the American administration.
But the Planalto tenant also disappointed the White House's hopes: Brasilia has thus far rejected any military intervention in Venezuela. Despite pressure from Washington, it also did not close the door on Chinese Huawei to install 5G equipment or move its embassy in Israel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The idea, mentioned at the start of his mandate by Mr. Bolsonaro, of hosting an American military base on its soil was also quickly dismissed.
