Two-Thirds Of Brazilians Are Against Favoring The US

Datafolha survey shows rejection of Bolsonaro's foreign policy plan no matter age, gender, income or location

Luciana Coelho
São Paulo

Two in every three Brazilians disagree that Brazil should favor the United States in matters of foreign policy, according to a new Datafolha survey.

Alignment with the US and the Trump administration is one of the main diplomacy guidelines of both president-elect Jair Bolsonaro and his Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo.

The poll interviewed 2,077 people in 130 townships on December 18th and 19th and resulted in 66% of people disagreeing with favoring the United States to the detriment of other countries. The margin of error is two percentage points up or down.

Among the 29% of respondents that agree with the idea, half (15% of the total) say they agree entirely, and 14% say that they partially agree with the plan. One percent said they neither agree or disagree and 4% said they don't have any opinion on the topic.

The rejection is stronger among women (69% are against the policy, while among men the rejection is 62%), and those with at least a college degree (77%) and income above five times the national minimum wage, currently US$ 1,200 a month -- 72% of those in the income bracket oppose Bolsonaro's idea.

Opposition to Bolsonaro's plan wins in all age and income groups, as well as education levels, for both men and women in all locations. It is slightly lower (58%) among 16 to 24-year-olds, people over 60 and those who completed only middle school.

The United States is Brazil's second largest trade partner, behind China -- it can fall to third when the European Union is taken into consideration as a whole block -- buying 12% of Brazilian exports and responsible for 15.6% of imports.

Although the Trump administration responds Bolsonaro's gestures with compliments and flattery, there is little space to improve relations between the two countries, and there are other factors involved.

The new House of Representatives with a Democrat majority taking over in early 2019 wouldn't approve a free trade agreement with Brazil. But such a deal would also hardly be proposed by Trump, whose "America First" tenet clashes with Republican ideology.

Even in an optimistic scenario, Trump's remaining two years in office and Bolsonaro's four-year term would not be enough to negotiate this kind of agreement.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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