Brazil’s president-elect talks to Trump, vows strong US ties

Brazil’s far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has promised closer relations with the United States during a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro, dubbed “Trump of the Tropics,” talked to the US president from his home in Rio de Janeiro late on Sunday night, when Trump called him to congratulate his victory in the country’s presidential election over the weekend.

The two spoke of “a strong commitment to work side-by-side” on issues affecting Brazil, the United States, and beyond, said the White House in a statement.

‘Trade, military, and everything else!’

Trump also took to Twitter after the conversation, saying that he and Bolsonaro had had a “very good conversation . . . We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else!”

Bolsonaro’s son and adviser, Eduardo, said later that the public congratulations from Washington were “a sign of new times.”

A Trump admirer, Bolsonaro has already praised him as a leader who “faced the same attacks I am facing.”

Like Trump, Bolsonaro supports wider gun ownership, more lethal police actions and fewer rights for indigenous communities.

His pick for chief of staff has said that Bolsonaro’s first international trip will be to Chile and that he hopes to visit Washington soon afterwards, according to Reuters.

Bolsonaro also discussed collaboration on priority foreign policy issues with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday.

Brazil already has a cordial relationship with Washington, but building closer and stronger ties with the US has concerned leftist leaders who had, for 13 years, been making efforts to build relationships with Brazil’s South American neighbors and other developing countries before losing to Bolsonaro.

The Brazilian president-elect, imitating Trump, has also questioned Brazil’s largest trading partner, China.

China on Monday offered congratulation to Bolsonaro, saying it was willing to continue deepening cooperation for the benefit of the people in both countries.

‘Lying media outlets’

Bolsonaro also said on Monday that he would withdraw government advertising from media outlets he said were “lying.”

He has formerly denounced the media as promoters of “fake news,” and “political foes,” an almost word-for-word copy of Trump’s rhetoric.

In an interview on Globo TV’s national evening news, Bolsonaro said he would assign Judge Sergio Moro as his justice minister and work to eventually put him on the Supreme Court bench when an opening arises.

Moro has overseen the so-called “Car Wash” trials that sent scores of powerful politicians and businessmen to jail, including former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro is also expected to appoint several retired generals as ministers and close advisers. He has once described the country’s three-decade military rule as “glorious.”

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