More than two years after giving his inaugural speech as Brazil’s foreign minister, when he promised to align the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the wishes of Jair Bolsonaro's voters, Ernesto Henrique Fraga Araújo resigned under pressure from Congress on Monday (29).
Ernesto, who at the time of his inauguration was an unknown diplomat recently promoted to ambassador, leaves the post after falling out of grace with various sectors of society and the government. From the summits of the National Congress to the generals who advise Bolsonaro, from big businessmen to agribusiness leaders, everyone has joined together in the last few days to kick him out of the Esplanade.
Ernesto met Bolsonaro on Monday morning, and told the president that he would leave the head of the Foreign Ministry.
The dismissal of Ernesto, an avowed admirer of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, is also a severe blow to the ideological wing of Bolsonarism, which in recent years has had an open door policy with the Foreign Ministry.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon