Today, President Jair Bolsonaro at the G20. The investigation into a corruption scheme alleged headed by the Tourism Minister. And the government’s shrinking popularity.
At G20, Bolsonaro delegation hits back at criticism from Europe
It has not been the best of starts for Jair Bolsonaro and his team at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Rocked by the news that one member of his advance party had been arrested with 39 kg of cocaine in Seville airport earlier this week, President Bolsonaro then faced severe criticism from major European leaders on the country’s environmental policy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the “dramatic” deforestation situation in the Amazon, before France’s Emannuel Macron went as far as threatening not to sign a pending EU-Mercosur free trade deal if Mr. Bolsonaro went through with his plan to remove Brazil from the Paris climate change agreement.
Surrounding controversy only increased when it was announced that a meeting between Mr. Bolsonaro and Mr. Macron, originally scheduled for this afternoon, had been canceled by the French delegation.
If Brazil’s diplomacy had been renowned for its conciliatory nature and ability to broker compromises in the 2000s...