Brazil’s Vice-President Says U.S. Elections Will Not Affect Brazil-U.S. Relations

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Vice-President Hamilton Mourão said yesterday that relations between Brazil and the United States will remain unchanged regardless of the outcome of the U.S. elections and the government’s preference for a Donald Trump victory.

“Brazil’s relationship with the United States is state to state, regardless of who governs. Obviously, each government has its priorities, its features, but we will maintain the same ties,” Mourão said in an interview at the Planalto Palace.

He assured that President Jair Bolsonaro’s repeated statements in support of Trump’s candidacy are no more than a “personal opinion” and will not impact relations between the two countries.

“This is absurd. It is his [Bolsonaro’s] personal opinion, although when the President speaks, he does so for everyone, for the Government,” Mourão stressed.

According to the Vice-President, good relations between Brazil and the U.S. will continue despite a victory for the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, who has already criticized the country’s environmental policy.

Mourão, who heads the Amazon Council, considered that if Biden is elected he will have other higher priorities to deal with than challenging Brazil’s policies.

“It may be that Biden’s team will have a more forceful action regarding the environment. But let’s remember that the United States is among the countries that emit the most CO2 in the world. So, first, they must solve their own problems and then address ours,” he said.

Both Biden and the vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris have harshly criticized the current Brazilian policy for the Amazon, the largest rainforest on the planet, which is experiencing the greatest fires and deforestation activities in decades since Bolsonaro took office.

Criticism arose in the first debate between Biden and Trump in the final straight of the electoral campaign, in which the Democratic Party candidate said that Brazil should “stop” the “destruction” of the Amazon, otherwise it would face “significant economic consequences”.

Mourão’s statements came shortly after Jair Bolsonaro expressed his support for Trump’s candidacy. “I am confident in Trump’s reelection because it will be good for trade and diplomatic relations with Brazil,” said Bolsonaro in an interview with CNN Brasil television network.

In turn, Mourão advocated that the Brazilian government should remain neutral. “Brazil’s position must be neutral, logically. We have nothing to do with U.S. internal affairs,” concluded the Vice-President.

The U.S. election is widely considered the most polarized in the country’s history.

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