Brazilian President Bolsonaro Asked Why Not Observe Biden: Are US Elections Over?

JAKARTA - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued an interesting statement regarding the US Election. He conveyed the reasons why he had not yet congratulated Joe Biden on winning the electoral college.

"But, are we over? Are the US elections over?" Bolsonaro raised a question when asked about the results of the US election vote count, Thursday, November 12.

Bolsonaro is known to be close to US President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro had previously promised to be the first to congratulate Trump if re-elected.

Bolsonaro's attitude could be a sign that his relationship with Biden will not be smooth from the start, considering that Biden's agenda with Brazil will tend to target deforestation of the Amazon Forest. Moreover, the issue of human rights (HAM) was also a big polemic under Bolsonaro.

Tuesday, November 10, Bolsonaro referred to Biden as a "candidate", even though Biden's victory was announced on Saturday, November 7. He also alluded to comments made by Biden during the presidential debate that Brazil must fight deforestation with foreign assistance or it will face "economic consequences."

"We saw recently that a great candidate for head of state said that if I don't put out the fire in the Amazon, he will impose trade barriers on Brazil," Bolsonaro said.

"And how can we deal with all of that? Diplomacy is not enough ... When words run out, someone has to have a gun, or everything will not work," said Bolsonaro.