December 15th local time, Bolsonaro said in a statement issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that “best wishes to President Biden”.
According to the Brazilian media G1, Bolsonaro is considered one of the last leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory. Previously, Bolsonaro had said that sources told him that there were many “frauds” in the U.S. election, so he did not immediately congratulate Biden on his victory.
Bolsonaro officially sent congratulations to Biden
According to Al Jazeera, in the past two years, US President Trump has found an “ideal partner” in Latin America. Brazil’s President Bolsonaro, the leader of Latin America’s largest economy, followed Trump’s “directions” almost step by step, even if these are not in Brazil’s best interests. Bossonaro is thus known as “Tropical Trump”.
In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, when Trump failed to take the lead in obtaining 270 electoral votes and will leave the White House on January 20, 2021, Bosonaro’s position became a “mysterious”.
Rubens Rikupero, Brazil’s former ambassador to the U.S., said he believes most Brazilian diplomats are shocked by Bolsonaro’s delay in admitting Biden’s victory, according to The Guardian. Rikupero noted that “this is a crazy reaction, with no diplomatic logic at all”.
Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Moulon is also confused about this. On December 15th, local time, a reporter asked Bosonaro about the reason why he admitted Biden’s victory at this moment. Moulin replied, “I don’t know.”
Brazilian media GloboNews’ diplomatic commentator Gug Chakra said that Bolsonaro sincerely admires Trump, who often regards him as his inspiration. “He does not congratulate Biden, not because he dislikes him, but because he really admires Trump. He even thinks that he even thinks that he All the wins in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election should be attributed to Trump.”
Chakra pointed out that Indian Prime Minister Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have close ties with Trump, but for them, Trump seems to be an ally. However, Bolsonaro is a Trump “fan”, which is more like an idolatry.
However, as the voting in the U.S. electoral college ended and Biden officially locked in the victory, Bolsonaro’s attitude began to change. On the afternoon of December 15th local time, Bolsonaro issued a statement in the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent blessings to Biden.
U.S. media said that Bolsonaro and Trump have many similar ideas.
According to the Brazilian media “G1”, on November 7th local time, several American media predicted Biden’s victory. Since then, many people have begun to realize that Biden will become the president-elect of the United States, but Bolsonaro did not, so he is considered one of the last leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory.
For the past month, Bolsonaro has supported Trump’s remarks that “there is fraud in the presidential election”.
According to the Associated Press, on November 29 local time, Bossonaro mentioned the U.S. presidential election in an interview with the media. “My source told me that there were indeed many frauds in the election, but no one talked about it. I don’t know if this is enough to define the victory of one of the parties.” And when asked if he would admit Biden’s victory, Bolsonaro said, “I hesitated a little”.
In the 2018 Brazilian presidential election, Bolsonaro also questioned the reliability of the country’s electronic voting system, but failed to produce any evidence of fraud in the general election. He also urged Brazil to use a paper voting system in the 2022 presidential election.
The Associated Press pointed out that Bolsonaro and Trump share the same opinion on many issues, even including remarks that “the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 epidemic is more destructive than the epidemic itself”.
In addition, Bolsonaro has secretly attacked Biden. According to Al Jazeera, when Biden proposed to raise $20 billion to help Brazil put out the Amazon wildfires, Bolsonaro responded on November 11 local time, “We recently heard a great candidate for head of state (Biden) claim that if I don’t put out the Amazon wildfire, he may set up Put up commercial barriers. What can we do in the face of this situation? Diplomacy alone is not feasible. If words don’t work, we must use gunpowder.”
Presidents of Russia and Mexico congratulate Biden on his election
After the official vote of the U.S. Electoral College, except Brazilian President Bossonaro, Russian President Putin and Mexican President López Obrador congratulated Biden on his election.
According to the Kremlin website, on December 15th local time, Russian President Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to Biden, congratulating him on winning the U.S. presidential election.
Putin said that despite the differences between Russia and the United States, the two countries should shoulder their special responsibility for maintaining global security and stability and effectively promote the resolution of the current challenges and problems facing the world. He is ready to interact with Biden.
Putin also pointed out that it is in the interest of Russia and the United States and the international community to establish a Russian-American cooperative relationship based on the principles of equality and mutual respect.
According to CNN, Mexican President Lopez Obrador also sent a two-page congratulatory letter on December 15 local time. In the letter, Obrador stressed the importance of “building good bilateral relations based on respect for the sovereignty of our countries”.
