BRASILIA, March 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
will pay his first official visits to the United States, Chile and Israel
this month, in a clear sign of the alliances the far-right leader wants to
shore up, official sources said Friday.
The former Army captain, who took office on January 1, will be in the
United States on March 18-22 and in Chile on March 23, said Foreign Minister
Ernesto Araujo, quoted by state-owned Agencia Brasil.
At the end of March, Bolsonaro will travel to Israel, Araujo added. The
Israeli foreign ministry said Wednesday that the Brazilian leader would be in
that country from March 31 to April 4.
These will be Bolsonaro’s first official visits as president. In January,
he went to Switzerland to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Recent Brazilian presidents traditionally have made their first trips to
neighboring Argentina.
But Bolsonaro’s itinerary represents the political and economic shifts he
highlighted during his successful election campaign.
Bolsonaro, like US President Donald Trump, largely rejects multilateralism,
and both want to oust embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and see
opposition leader Juan Guaido in his place.
In Chile, seen by Brazil’s new economy minister Paulo Guedes as an economic
success story, Bolsonaro will take part in the launch of the Prosur forum,
which aims to promote development projects in South America.
In Israel, Bolsonaro will repay the visit made by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to Brazil for his inauguration.