What will be Jair Bolsonaro’s foreign policy?

It’s been less than 48 hours since Jair Bolsonaro was confirmed as Brazil’s president-elect – and there’s still two months before he takes office on January 1, 2019. We still don’t know who will be his pick for Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the challenges on foreign policy are well-known. According to experts on the […]

It’s been less than 48 hours since Jair Bolsonaro was confirmed as Brazil’s president-elect – and there’s still two months before he takes office on January 1, 2019. We still don’t know who will be his pick for Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the challenges on foreign policy are well-known. According to experts on the matter, the new government will have five main issues ahead:

  • Venezuela: the full-scale crisis in the neighboring country has provoked a massive migratory flux towards many Latin American countries – including Brazil. Every day, hundreds of Venezuelan-born families cross the northern border of Roraima to seek a better life. The current administration has opted for keeping an “open borders” policy, asking in multilateral forums for a joint political solution for the crisis.
  • Trade war: Another hot foreign policy issue on the president-elect’s plate is the looming trade war between the world’s largest economies (and Brazil’s main trading partners), the U.S. and China. Brazil, as a major commodity exporter, is stuck in the middle of the crossfire and, in theory, needs to adopt a more balanced approach so as not to enrage either side.

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