The new foreign policy priorities and the regional role of Brazil
On the 18th of April the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee. Congressman Bolsonaro gave a lecture entitled “The new foreign policy priorities and the regional role of Brazil”. During the lecture he discussed a range of issues like the Brazilian election, the “Carwash” scandal, new trade goals, as well as the importance of bilateral deals with East-Central Europe.
The lecture started with a warm introduction by Márton Ugrósdy, director of the Institute. Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro then began his speech with a discussion of Brazilian history. Firstly, he mentioned the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état, the Brazilian military government which took power following the coup, and the eventual return of democratically elected governments in 1984. He went on to discuss the so called “Pink Tide” of left-wing governments that had found popularity in Latin America: He stated that, in his opinion, these regimes were a major source of conflict for the continent.
Congressman Bolsonaro discussed the goals of his father’s presidency. He pressed the importance of anti-corruption policy to end the carwash scandal. On economic policy, he focused on the importance of lean governance and liberalisation citing the benefits of low taxes and privatisation for job creation and economic growth. He discussed how Brazil was targeting trade towards the US and China, and spoke about the importance of Brazil’s international relations with Israel, the US, Japan, and Hungary. He pointed to Hungary as a potential candidate for further bilateral relations, citing the importance of economic and military relations as well as technological transfer, particularly technology for supplying clean water in Brazil. He then stated that Venezuela was a major concern for the Latin American region, going on to say he would like to see the country stabilised.
At the end of the lecture Congressman Bolsonaro took questions from the audience. He again showed concerns that the current strategies of suppling aid to Venezuela were failing, stating that it was important for the region to avoid further crises. On peacekeeping, he discussed the deployment of Brazilian troops under the UN who were deployed in Haiti. He mentioned that although many troops had been removed from the country, they had taken many refugees and deployed military engineers during the earthquake. He went on to say that Brazil was aiming to deploy peacekeeping missions in other parts of the world. Finally, he described his time in Hungary as a learning experience, citing his interest in the county’s media laws and general governmental policy.