After Bolsonaro Spoke of “Gunpowder”, U.S. Ambassador Praises Marine Corps

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – United States Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman published a message on Tuesday night, November 10th, congratulating the U.S. Marine Corps on its 245th anniversary. The video accompanying the post reports that the deployment is “the largest in the world” and is “always ready to react quickly, whether by land, air or sea”.

Chapman’s post came hours after President Jair Bolsonaro spoke of using “gunpowder” to protect the Amazon, in reaction to a statement by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden during his campaign on the potential imposition of sanctions on Brazil because of the destruction of the forest.

O Destacamento de Fuzileiros Navais na Embaixada e nos Consulados dos EUA compartilha uma longa história e uma relação importante e duradoura com a diplomacia que nos permite construir com segurança uma relação bilateral mais forte com o Brasil. Happy Birthday, @USMC! pic.twitter.com/zaYxzVP7Uq

— Embaixador(a) dos EUA no Brasil (@USAmbBR) November 10, 2020

“We just saw a great candidate for head of state (Biden) say that unless I extinguish the Amazon fires, he will raise trade barriers against Brazil. (…) Diplomacy is not enough (…) Because when words run out, you need to have gunpowder,” said the President in a ceremony at the Planalto Palace.

On his Tweet, Chapman wrote that the “Deployment of Marines at the U.S. Embassy and Consulates shares a long history and an important and lasting relationship with diplomacy that allows us to safely build a stronger bilateral relationship with Brazil”.

One of the passages in the video published by the ambassador shows U.S. Marines aligned in front of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and marching on the Ministries Esplanade in Brasília. Also in the video, Chapman states that the Marine Corps keeps men in Brazil for the protection of U.S. diplomatic missions.

Source: UOL

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