Brazilian relations with the U.S. go way back to 1824, when Washington became the first country to recognize Brazil’s independence from Portugal. This relationship took a more “personal” tone in 2019, with President Jair Bolsonaro trying to forge a friendship with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. But with a worsening coronavirus crisis, Mr. Trump’s re-election is in jeopardy — and many analysts see the 2020 U.S. presidential race all but decided in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden.
What would a regime change mean for Brazil? And Latin America?
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On this episode:
- Carlos Gustavo Poggio is a professor of international relations with a focus on U.S. foreign policy at the São Paulo-based Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation. He is a former Fulbright scholar, holding a Ph.D. in international studies from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
- Peter Hakim is president emeritus and a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue. From 1993 to 2010, he served as president of the organization. Prior to joining the Dialogue, Mr. Hakim was a vice president of the Inter-American Foundation and worked for the Ford Foundation in New York, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru.
Background reading:
- Listen to Episode #52, “When Jair met Donald.” We covered Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to the White House, in March 2019, and explained how Brazil came out of the meeting.
- Listen to Episode #105, “Pandemic power plays in Brazil and the U.S.” We show how the Covid-19 pandemic has made the similarities between Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump even more apparent.
- The last Trump-Bolsonaro meeting was an odd one. The duo dined at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, in Florida, to discuss a defense deal. And after that, several members of the Braziian president’s entourage fell ill with Covid-19.
- U.S. President Donald Trump broke with tradition, pushing to nominate one of his own advisors to lead the Inter-American Development Bank.
- Columnist Benjamin Fogel wrote about what is at stake for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in the race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
- As Jair Bolsonaro cozies up to Donald Trump, Brazilians become more wary of U.S. influence, Euan Marshall writes.
- Late in 2019, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada signed a new trade deal. Lucas Berti explains how Brazil could benefit from this “new Nafta.”
- Earlier this month, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador was lambasted by liberals for getting “too cozy” with Donald Trump. We explained why.
- “Look, stop burning the Amazon,” Joe Biden said about Jair Bolsonaro.
Explaining Brazil is made by:
- Gustavo Ribeiro is the editor-in-chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
- Euan Marshall is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.
- This episode was produced by Natália Scalzaretto. She has worked for companies such as Santander Brasil and Reuters, where she covered news ranging from commodities to technology. Before joining The Brazilian Report, she worked as an editor for Trading News, the information division of the TradersClub investor community.
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