With Rightist Bolsonaro Becoming President, Brazil-US Relationship Likely to Undergo a Sea Change

The United States and Brazil have been uneasy allies for more than a decade, but now, with far right lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro taking charge as the President, the two countries are looking forward to having a cozy relationship.

Bolsonaro, analysts say, dislikes China and is unabashedly pro-American. He has already told the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he wants a closer relationship with America. Pompeo represented the US at the presidential inauguration earlier this month.

Bolsonaro reportedly told Pompeo that former Brazilian presidents were enemies of the US for some reasons but he would be a friend.

Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN and a close ally of President Trump in the Republican Party, has praised Bolsonaro in a tweet, saying that he will “join the fight against dictatorships in Venezuela and Cuba.”

The new president, who looks similar to President Donald Trump in temperament, dislikes Brazil’s relationship with China. During his presidential campaign, he complained that “China is buying Brazil”.

He has repeatedly stated that he would put an end to socialist ideology that left the Latin America’s largest country in economic doldrums. The leftist Workers’ Party (PT) ruled Brazil for more than a decade, but many of its leaders have now been caught in a web of corruption scandals.

Just two weeks into his presidency, Bolsonaro vowed to abolish land-reform, adding that he was ready to raise tax. Among his ambitious plans include overhauling the country’s expensive pension system and moving Brazil’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.