Jair Bolsonaro’s Government in Brazil Essay Sample

Introduction

Since 2019, Brazil has been passing through atypical situations with president Jair Messias Bolsonaro, who is currently generating more problems in the relationship between the G20 countries and internal relations in Brazil. Bolsonaro started his political career in 1988, where he stayed for two years in the Câmara Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, concluded seven consecutive mandates for congressmen, and in 2018 won the election for President with 55.13% of the votes (6). Throughout his career, Jair defended the right of self-defence and possession of firearms for those without any criminal record. He believes that printed votes should come back because they are more trustworthy (6). Bolsonaro follows Evangelicalism, giving him the political support of conservative parties, his slogan is “Brazil above everything, God above all” (6). The focus of our group is to investigate in different lenses how Bolsonaro's government is affecting Brazil and its international relations with the G20. This is a relevant topic because it is a crucial factor regarding ecological, economic, and political issues.

The Amazon Situation

It is no secret that the Amazon is of great importance for all nations, especially the Brazilian part, which covers 60% of the whole Amazon, having 20% of the world’s fresh water and 6% of Earth’s oxygen (1). As shown in the AllRise document, “climate security is dependent upon the tens of billion of tons of carbon sequestered by the Amazon rainforest in its role as a ‘carbon sink’, and thereby upon the efficient regulation of global temperatures and weather patterns.”(1) All of this is being menaced by Bolsonaro’s Government, where mass deforestation and fires are getting more common during the current administration, hence destroying homes for 350 indigenous groups (1). The Oxford Report, partnered with AllRise, argues that “ the consequences of the greenhouse gas emissions that result from the acceleration of deforestation… can be attributed to the government of President Jair Bolsonaro,” (15) the government is loosening laws, and that has been drastically increasing the percentage of deforestation and gas emissions. During the G20 conference in Rome, all leaders compromised to reduce their carbon emissions, protect the forest areas, combat environmental crimes, and generate native populations participation in decisions. But Brazil is contradictory in this case because, in practice, it is going in the opposite direction (5). The Amazon situation is also affecting Brazil from an economic perspective since Emmanuel Macron stated that France and other countries from the EU will stop buying soy and other products that can contribute to deforestation (12). This situation is crucial to Brazil since Europe is a significant partner for the agricultural sector.

International Conferences

In 2021, there were two essential meetings to treat regarding international matters, the G20 Summit and the UN General Assembly, both Bolsonaro told several lies, making Brazil's impression worse. Similar to the UN Assembly in 2019, Bolsonaro’s speech wasn’t greatly accepted, and it delivered numerous untruths, “insisted his government had long championed Covid vaccination, even though he has personally undermined efforts to immunize citizens... and has supposedly refused to receive a shot” (13). New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio publically ironized Bolsonaro many times, one of them saying that he shouldn’t be bothered visiting New York (13). Miriam and Alexandra, from E-International Relations, defined Jair’s government as “a coalition based on the association between economic liberalization, hate speech, and a general reactionary mindset,” (14). During the G20 Rome Conference, Bolsonaro spread many false facts and was the only unvaccinated leader. During the conference, Bolsonaro decided not to go to COP26 because of environmental criticism (10). Historically, Brazil is important to articulate global debates during the conference, but this time it was isolated. A reason for that was Bolsonaro’s polemic affirmations about vaccines, like them giving vulnerability to HIV (10). Jair signed a declaration with all G20 countries that contradicts all his decisions in his three years of government, regarding topics like combating Covid-19, environmental protection, gender equity, education, and much more (5). Brazilian Education Minister said once that “students with some intelectual deficiency ‘disturb’ the evolution of the other students”,  and on the last International Woman’s Day, Bolsonaro refused to sign a global compromise in defence of feminine health because the text had references to “sexual reproductive health” (5). Those commentaries from Bolsonaro indicate how poorly Brazil was in conferences and that it is repelling nations to make agreements.

Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has been incredibly cruel to the global population, but in Brazil, it has stricken with more power than in other nations, and it has been because of the negationist government of Bolsonaro. As the article “Report From Bolsonaro’s Brazil: The Consequences of Ignoring Science” states that on June 6, 2020, Jair started presenting only new cases and deaths numbers, whilst not showing anymore the sum of total in the history. This was seen as a way to hide information about the real danger of Covid-19, so media organizations started their network to create transparency in this system (9). The same article affirms that “Bolsonaro’s stance, not only in relation to the pandemic, but in several issues of public health and environmental policy, has been characterized as an antiscientific discourse… even official information from his own government, is neglected when it contradicts his political and ideological views” and “the lack of transparency in the data favours corruption, affects democratic mechanisms, prevents the evaluation of policies, and allows for consolidation of alternative discourses” (5). Bolsonaro stated many absurds that science condemns, “he has blocked local leaders' efforts to impose restrictions and called state governors and mayors who imposed lockdowns ‘tyrants’,” also refusing to wear a mask, claiming it is ineffective in protecting people against the virus (8). The lack of transparency and un-scientific claims is causing "chronic" issues in health administration.

In the same topic of Covid-19, vaccines are a current issue in Brazil, where Bolsonaro’s supporters are all against them, with arguments that they cause vulnerability to HIV (3). Corruption scandals were also a thing because of the vaccine. As Barbara recalls, “the government delayed the purchase of hundreds of millions of vaccine doses from proper sources while reportedly trying to negotiate with murky middlemen for an unapproved (and overpriced) vaccine. Mr. Bolsonaro was informed about irregularities in the deal, but there’s no evidence that he warned law enforcement officials about it” (3). A website created in support of President Bolsonaro, by Fernando Amaral, shows diverse news in favour of Jair’s opinion, an example being the video of women who took the vaccines, and showing how they were affected by it (2). There is no doubt that the source shows only false information, where we can observe the woman having seizures, staying hospitalized, and with more problems due to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (2), this is no truth. The mortality and cases rates are all decaying faster and faster because of the vaccination, with this fewer people are dying, so life can return to normality faster, as the whole G20 reiterated their support for COVAX and other vaccine suppliers to increase the efficiency of the products each time more (5). As it is noticeable, Bolsonaro is behaving differently in front of the G20 and locally.

Conclusion

Jair Bolsonaro’s government, in three years, has turned the relationship between the G20 countries with Brazil more difficult. Brazilian ecological laws for the preservation of the Amazon and Covid-19 measures became a stone in the road of a good relationship between Brazil and other countries. A possible solution to the situation is Bolsonaro probably facing charges for crimes against humanity for his response to the pandemic (8). Jair is also being accused in the ICC (International Criminal Court) for his “alleged attacks on the Amazon” (7) and for taking decisions in weakening environmental laws in Brazil. This solution is crucial to the group because it has a high probability of happening and is in analysis.