Brazilian President Bolsonaro cancels trip to New York

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has canceled a planned trip to the United States following protests from gay rights activists and conservationists.

Mr. Bolsonaro was to attend a ceremony in his honor in New York, organized next May by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Several places in the city have decided not to host the event.

His spokesman accused New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and "pressure from interest groups".

The American Museum of Natural History had originally agreed to hold a gala dinner for the Brazilian president,

But he received strong criticism by agreeing to hold a ceremony at which Mr Bolsonaro, who advocated the relaxation of environmental policies, was to receive the Personality of the Year Award.

Other sponsors, including Delta Airlines, the Financial Times newspaper and the management consulting firm Bain & Co, withdrew from the event.

"We have decided to withdraw our sponsorship from … the 2019 Human Price Gala Dinner," said Bain. "Encouraging and celebrating diversity is a fundamental principle of Bath."

President Bolsonaro will no longer participate in the dinner, said his spokesman, General Otavio Rego Barros, because of "the resistance and deliberate attacks of the mayor of New York and pressure from interest groups "on the organizers of the event.

How did this line burst?

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes trade, investment and cultural ties between the two countries, had planned to honor the Brazilian president at a dinner of gala.

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At the annual event, the chamber awards its personality award of the year. This year, one of these awards is to be awarded to Mr. Bolsonaro, who was sworn in the presidency of Brazil on January 1st.

On its website, the organization said it had chosen the leader of the far right, recognizing "its firm intention to tighten the commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States and its firm commitment to establish a strong and lasting partnership between the two countries ". nations ".

Past recipients of the award included former US President Bill Clinton and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

What were the objections?

Climate activists and environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have denounced Bolsonaro as "a threat to Brazil's ecosystem".

Most of the opponents of the organization of the event by the museum indicated that the president was planning to open up parts of the Amazon rainforest for development purposes, which they said did not fit. not to the museum's mission.

In a radio interview on April 8, President Bolsonaro said he wanted the United States to join a development plan for the Amazon region. He also stated that the delimitation of native reserves impeded the development of the region and that he would abolish them if he could find a way to do so legally.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said President Bolsonaro was a "very dangerous human being".

Last month, Mr. de Blasio told WNYC radio station: "He is dangerous not only because of his racism and his homophobia, but also because he is unfortunately the most able person in the world. Influence what is happening in the Amazon. "