Pompeo: Brazil, US to work together against authoritarian regimes
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Wednesday with Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and said that the inauguration in Brasilia of President Jair Bolsonaro will permit the two countries to work together “against authoritarian regimes.’”
The meeting with Pompeo was Araujo’s first official act as Brazil’s chief diplomat and, at a joint press conference, the US secretary said that “We have an opportunity to work alongside each other against authoritarian regimes,” adding that when countries have a “set of shared values” the governments work together better.
According to Pompeo, the beginning of a new phase in Brazil, after the ultra-rightist Bolsonaro was sworn in on Jan. 1, will be “transformative” for Brazil and presents an “opportunity” for the two nations to be able to cooperate against authoritarian governments.
He also said that he noted what he said was the desire shared by the two countries to see a return of democracy to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Along those lines, the new Brazilian foreign minister said that in his meeting with Pompeo a “determination, a common vision of the world was identified” along with the desire “to work for a different international order that corresponds to the values” of both peoples.
“We’re just at the beginning of a new phase, which will be very productive” and which will go beyond the political to create closer economic and technological cooperation that “will be concrete elements in creating jobs, new business opportunities and novel initiatives in all sectors,” he said.
After his meeting with Araujo, Pompeo was scheduled to meet with Bolsonaro at Planalto Palace, the presidential residence, where the new Brazilian leader will also welcome Chinese, Hungarian and Portuguese officials on Wednesday who, like Pompeo, attended his inauguration on Tuesday.
