What to expect from Bolsonaro's visit to Trump: chords, strategic approach and demonstration of ideological harmony

Jair Bolsonaro will have an unbeatable opportunity, according to local political badysts, to look at himself in the mirror that Donald Trump offers him.

The Brazilian president will visit his American counterpart on Tuesday at noon. They will hold a private meeting in the oval hall of the White House and then, at an extended meeting with their collaborators, they will devote the spit to two days of work from their ministerial teams. before going to the Rose Garden of the presidential residence to speak to the press.

All media attention will focus on this moment of the summit during which the leaders of the main democracies of the continent will manifest their harmony of styles. The wait is huge. The local political world, the media and badysts will seek to deduce from their actions and words if the ideological communion that unites them can lead to a strategic alliance between the two countries as there was none so far.

"This is the first bilateral visit of President Jair Bolsonaro, which shows the priority that the government attributes to the establishment of a strong alliance with the United States", said the spokesman of the President of Brazil, Otávio Santana do Rego Barros, general of the Brazilian army.

Will there be a chemistry between the two leaders after the many parallels that have been established between them? Or are these similarities simply an obstacle to a closer relationship between the two countries?

The agenda of the dialogue will include topics on which they hardly coincide, such as the collapse of the situation in Venezuela, some resistance to China's progress in the region, agreements for greater technological and aerospace cooperation with focus on the Brazilian base of Alcantaraand an area in which specific announcements are expected: the deepening of the commercial links between the two countries.

Among other things, it is expected that The United States lifts the current restrictions on Brazilian meat and allow US ethanol to enter the South American giant market. Filipe Carvalho, Eurasia Group badyst, does not have much optimism "given Trump's reservations about Brazil's trade and competition in agriculture".

Brazil is also expecting support from the United States in its application for membership of the club of the OECD countries, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which brings together the most advanced economies. There may be news on visas and it is possible that Washington wants to add Brazil as an ally in a more determined action to end the Chavez regime.

But of two controversial, provocative and disruptive leaders of the status quo can expect surprises outside the scenario, say local badysts consulted by Infobae. "The table is served so that there are enough agreements, but with the mercurial leaders, it is difficult to make predictions", commented Juan Carlos Hidalgo, expert of the Cato Institute, a thinking group from this capital.

"Pragmatism will probably prevail," Benjamin Gedan, Latin American specialist at Woodrow Wilson Center, said. "Although these two populists have a similar style, including an explosive presence on Twitter, making them good partners is Bolsonaro's desire to celebrate Trump wholeheartedly and his willingness to ignore the dark side of Bolsonaro" , did he declare. at Infobae.

Bolsonaro arrived last night in Washington and was driven directly from Andrews Air Force Base to Blair House, the residence reserved for foreign presidents on an official visit, just steps from the White House. With him, several ministers and secretaries, among whom Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, an uncompromising conservative, Paulo Guedes, guarantor of liberal economic management, and Sergio Moro, Justice Portfolio Manager.

But the activity will only begin on Monday, with an intervention scheduled at 5:50 pm at the US Chamber of Commerce at a conference titled "Brazil Day in Washington" and then will go to an in-camera dinner hosted by the Brazil-US Business Council.

Next Tuesday, Bolsonaro will meet Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, One of the voices that is leading the debate on Venezuela's future at the regional level, and this theme is neglected, will be well placed on the agenda of the dialogue to be held.

At 12 o'clock, the Brazilian president will visit the White House to meet Trump and almost two hours laterAccording to the program, they will go together to the rose garden to talk to the media and answer journalists' questions. For half an hour, the flashes of the local and international press will face under the almost spring sun of the last days. "Bolsonaro greatly admires Trump, and Trump knows it, so we expect a show of friendship and warmth from both of them," he said. Infobae Filipe Carvalho, the Eurasia Group badyst.

This will be the culminating moment in which Bolsonaro "will be hailed as a hero for his promises of being both an ally of foreign policy and an engine of trade openness"Gedan nodded. After that, there will be only the traditional visit to Arlington Cemetery, orn Meeting with North American religious leaders with resonance in a significant part of the electoral base of Bolsonaro in Brazil and a working meeting with his staff at Blair House before leaving for Andrews Air Force Base with the last light of the day.

"Bolsonaro is the most trumpet Latin American leader and it is an unprecedented situation since (Fernando Henrique) Cardoso and (Bill) Clinton were in the presidency, he was not there so much ideological community "Hidalgo said about the harmony shown by the presidents of Brazil and the United States. We will see in the next few hours if this affinity lays the foundation for something more than discursive coincidences.