Bolsonaro’s misinformed address to the United Nations

In 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro shocked the world with a speech at the United Nations that was filled with disinformation and elements of domestic culture wars — nothing for international consumption, but purely for his own support base in Brazil. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Bolsonaro’s second hurrah at the UN General Assembly touched on more international topics, but once again relied heavily on gaslighting the global audience — giving fact-checking agencies a field day.

In 14 and a half minutes, Mr. Bolsonaro made six false statements and five claims that were baseless or exaggerated.

Readers of The Brazilian Report already knew what to expect, as we reported last week that Mr. Bolsonaro had ordered his advisors to “dig up all the data that can put Brazil in a positive light compared to other countries.” 

The most noteworthy part of the speech, however, concerned Brazil’s positioning between the U.S. and China — especially in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s slim re-election prospects. (Statistics website FiveThirtyEight gives challenger Joe Biden a 77-percent chance to unseat Mr. Trump.)

Mr. Bolsonaro said Brazil is open to the development of flagship technology, including 5G, with “any partner that respects our sovereignty, and cherishes freedom and data protection.” One Brazilian diplomat, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Brazilian Report that this was a nod to the U.S.’s lobby for countries to ban Chinese firm Huawei from 5G auctions — “while leaving the door open for a U-turn if necessary.”

Later in his speech, the president would make two more gestures toward Mr. Trump. 

First, by lashing out at Venezuela’s “Bolivarian dictatorship,” just days after a visit by Mike Pompeo to the Brazil-Venezuela border, during which the U.S. Secretary of State called Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a...