US President Joe Biden responded to a letter sent by Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) on January 20 and called on Brazil and the United States to work together in the areas of climate and the fight against the pandemic.
Biden also said the two countries are joining forces in multilateral forums, such as COP26 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference – and the Climate Summit, a meeting the U.S. government plans to promote on April 22.
Biden’s letter, dated February 26, was published through a note from Secom (Special Secretariat for Social Communication).
“After highlighting the shared responsibility of the two leaders to make Brazil and the United States safer, healthier, more prosperous and more sustainable for future generations, President Biden welcomed the opportunity for both. countries to unite their efforts, both bilaterally and in forums. Multilateral, addressing the challenges of the pandemic and the environment, alluding to the path of COP26 and the Climate Summit, the latter to be hosted by the United States on April 22. “
Also according to the Secom statement, Biden referred to the trips he made to Brazil as vice president of the United States, under the administration of Barack Obama.
The current American leader was put forward by Obama as the main interlocutor of the government of ex-President Dilma Rousseff after the spy scandal of the NSA (US National Security Agency), which monitored the communications of the PT and the ministers.
President Biden stressed that there are no limits to what Brazil and the United States can accomplish together. He stressed that the two nations share a trajectory of struggle for independence, the defense of democratic and religious freedoms, the repudiation of slavery and the acceptance of the diverse membership. of their businesses, ”added Secom.
During the presidential campaign in the United States, Bolsonaro has publicly stated that he supports the re-election of former President Donald Trump, who was ultimately defeated. Bolsonaro and Biden have conflicting agendas in the fight against the pandemic and in the environmental agenda.
The American is a proponent of social distancing measures and oversees an extensive immunization program for the American population. Biden has also made tackling climate change one of his priorities.
Bolsonaro, for his part, has attacked the actions of governors and mayors to reduce the movement of people and only recently adopted the defense of widespread vaccination, after being warned by aides that his anti-vaccine claims are damaging. to its popularity.
Bolsonaro, critic of NGOs working for the preservation of the Amazon, also promotes the deregulation of environmental standards and is considered abroad as a leader without commitment for the protection of the forest.
In an attempt to salute the new U.S. government, Bolsonaro sent a letter to Biden on January 20, the date of the Democrat’s inauguration. In correspondence, he defended partnerships between countries “in favor of sustainable development and environmental protection”.
Interlocutors of the Bolsonaro government stress that the first contacts between the two administrations were positive. Chancellor Ernesto Araújo contacted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The head of Itamaraty, alongside Minister Ricardo Salles (Environment), also spoke with John Kerry, special envoy for the climate of the Biden administration.
On the other hand, the Brazilian government has been publicly demanded by the leaders of the Democratic Party in the US Congress. In February, the head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez, in a letter demanded that Bolsonaro and Ernesto condemn and categorically reject the attacks by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the Capitol on January 6, claiming that if this does not happen, there will be “damage to the bilateral relationship”.