Link: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-biden-amazon-intl/index.html
Tension arises after President Bolsonaro of Brazil, ally of US President Donald Trump, insulted Joe Biden for his remark about the burning/deforestation of the Amazon rainforest during the 2020 Presidential debate.
Trump annouced on Twitter if Bolsonaro did not accept $20 billion from VP Biden, Biden would exploit serious economic sanctions on Brazil. President Bolsonaro fired an indirect message announcing that Brazil “does not accept bribes, criminal land demarcations, or coward threats toward our territoral and economic integrity”. Bolsonaro claimed that he has and will be working with US President Trump to protect the Amazon and the environment, however, no plan has been announced. The article refers that President Bolsonaro has been called the “Trump of the Tropics” and reiterates their close relationship. Like Trump, Bolsonaro has been critized by multiple nations for his approach to environment regulations and tactics to stop the destruction of the rainforest.
Last year G7 (France, Cananda, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the US) called Bolsonaro to address the on-going issue with the Amazon. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research calculated a rise in forest fires by 40 percent over the year before Bolsonaro took office. However, President Bolsonaro claims that no other country protects its wildlife than Brazil…Shortly after the Ministry of Environment announced the formation of the Secretariat of Protected Areas to manage conservation lands. This year Bolsonaro has signed 2 executive orders to slow deforestation in Brazil, however the bans have proven ineffective.
The rainforest plays an important role in the detrimental issue of climate change. The tension and debate between Bolsonaro and Biden does not only affect the potentional future relationship amidst Brazil and the United States, but the future of our planet as a whole. The mass burnings of millions of acres in the forests of the Amazon and California will contribute to the heating of the atmosphere, destruction of habitat and trees which serve as the planets natural “air conditioner’. Similarities have been shown in the past several months between the US and Brazil and our leaders. The wildfires in both California and Amazon could certainly be a result from the lack of environmental protection and prioitization of the ecosystem from both presidents.
This connects with International Relations because the topic of Climate Change is a globally disscussed topic between various countries. One can question what happens to the relationship between the US and Brazil if Biden wins the election? Will President Bolsonaro resign from the current allience with have with Brazil? Or due to the United State’s economic power over Brazil, will President Biden be able to shift President Bolsonaro’s views on enviornmental policy? If President Trump wins will this continue an on-going allience that puts the economy before the environment and could result in tension between other countries who have begun to shift to their version of a “Green Deal or Plan”?