The agitated diplomacy between Brazil and Israel has seen another bizarre episode. After promising a machine that “draws water from the air” early last year, Jair Bolsonaro found a spray in the toy room that could cure Covid-19 patients within days.
This new drug fantasy was even too much for the Federal Court of Auditors, which questioned the relevance of a trip to meet a strong candidate for a new chloroquine. To protect themselves, the Planalto corrected the shooting, and the delegation discovered in the departure lounge that after all, the mission’s priority was to seek “science and technology” partnerships.
Like what happened to the Czech Republic and Honduras, the Israeli authorities will play with the Brazilian government’s desperation to reap diplomatic benefits in exchange for the remains of their triumphant vaccination campaign. Ernesto Araújo will not hesitate to call this barter a victory.
As is customary in Bolonarianism, scams reveal a deep evil. Much has been speculated on the character of Werner Herzog’s character responsible for transforming the Itamaraty into a Death Vessel. But the “spray box” says something new about your equipment.
From Chile to Nigeria to Norway, diplomats are being treated as heroes of the pandemic, along with doctors and nurses, for their role in the dispute over meager stocks of vaccines in the global market. Ambassadors of European Union countries rebelled against Brussels’ centralized vaccine purchasing policy and began negotiating on behalf of their capitals with Russia and China.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, Itamaraty’s top echelon spent the last week organizing a trip that was meant only to fuel the denial illusion. During this period, 10,000 Brazilians died. Society wants to know how these diplomats manage to sleep at night.
The transformation of Itamaraty into a communication department for Bolonarism will have negative consequences for the institution. Protests such as the attempt to acquire vaccines by governors and mayors can be seen as chaotic attempts at survival, but they are also movements towards a federalization of foreign policy. These regional institutions will eventually emancipate themselves from the channels of traditional diplomacy.
One of the vocations of Bolonarianism is the vandalization of institutions. Few are hit as hard as the Foreign Ministry.
Diplomats are the elite of the public service, very rigorously prepared and experienced men and women. Even in the worst moments of Brazilian history, they knew how to manifest their individuality and their independence.
His predecessors would never passively see a chancellor normalize the deaths of thousands of Brazilians. Diplomats urgently need to regain their self-esteem and find a way to express their unease at the promiscuity between the Foreign Ministry and government ideology.
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