Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The victory of Joe Biden from the Democratic Party over the United States Presidential Election (Pilpres) is not only the defeat of incumbent Donald John Trump from the Republican Party, but also Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, who is also known as ‘Trump of the Tropics’ is very supportive of Trump. But analysts say Bolsonaro’s support for Trump leaves him isolated abroad and vulnerable at home.
Elected as president of Brazil in 2018 and set to contest re-election in 2022, Bolsonaro has often modeled his political revival from Trump, and publicly admires him.
Bolsonaro also proudly claims to have brought Brazil’s relations with the US, China’s second-largest trading partner, closer than ever in recent history.
He even sought to foster close ties with Trump, to the point of breaking with Brazil’s diplomatic traditions and publicly supporting the Republican billionaire’s re-election bid.
In keeping with the confrontational style he and Trump have, Bolsonaro also clashed with Biden during the presidential election.
When Biden said during his first debate with Trump that the US needed to encourage Brazil to better protect the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro called the statement a disaster.
“Too bad, Mr. John Biden!” he said, mistaking the former vice president’s first name in the English version of his tweet.
Biden is deeply concerned about the fight against global warming, and this is a sensitive topic for Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic that has led a surge in deforestation and wildfires in the Amazon.
But after Biden won the US presidential election, Bolsonaro was immediately silent. When world leaders congratulated Biden, he was even more silent and less noisy. From the monitoring on his Twitter account until Sunday afternoon (8/11) there has been no response about the results of the US Presidential Election.
Of course Bolsonaro’s attitude can make Brazil’s relationship awkward with the Biden government later.
Trump’s defeat also left Bolsonaro, arguably the most visible face of the new right around the world, more exposed to international criticism and pressure.
“Trump’s defeat weakens Bolsonaro. It makes him look even more isolated,” said Brian Winter, vice president of the American Society or Council of America. AFP.
“This means more negative attention to Bolsonaro, who will suddenly become the face of a certain brand of right-wing politics. It will draw more attention to his actions on the Amazon,” he said. “In short, it is possible that Bolsonaro will become a global scourge for some global opinion.”
While Bolsonaro may not care what Biden or the rest of the world think about his reign, there are key players in Brazil who do.
“For many Brazilian companies, (the risk) is very clear. If Brazil becomes a pariah … that’s bad for business, in a country that can’t afford to lose clients, given the state of the economy,” Winter said, referring to estimates that coronavirus-hit Brazil is facing a record recession this year.
But the Biden government will remain in the interest of maintaining Brazil as a partner, on issues ranging from the environment to Venezuela to China.
However, after Trump’s defeat to Biden, the hashtag #BolsonaroIsNext has become a trend on Brazilian regional Twitter because most Brazilians don’t like Bolsonaro’s attitude.
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