Excerpt: believes climate change is part of a plot by “cultural Marxists” to stifle western economies and promote the growth of China.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (left) and Foreign MInister Ernesto Araújo. President By Alan Santos/PR – https://www.flickr.com/photos/micheltemer/45044560194/, CC BY 2.0, Link. Foreign minister by Por Fonte, Conteúdo restrito, Hiperligação
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The new right wing Brazilian government is demonstrating they have no fear of shooting green leftist sacred cows.
Brazil’s new foreign minister believes climate change is a Marxist plot
Ernesto Araújo has called climate science ‘dogma’ and bemoaned the ‘criminalisation’ of red meat, oil and heterosexual sex
Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
Fri 16 Nov 2018 04.13 AEDTBrazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has chosen a new foreign minister who believes climate change is part of a plot by “cultural Marxists” to stifle western economies and promote the growth of China.
Ernesto Araújo – until recently a mid-ranking official who blogs about the “criminalisation” of red meat, oil and heterosexual sex – will become the top diplomat of South America’s biggest nation, representing 200 million people and the greatest and most biodiverse forest on Earth, the Amazon.
His appointment, confirmed by Bolsonaro on Wednesday, is likely to send a chill through the global climate movement.
Brazil was where the international community first came together in 1992 to discuss reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Its diplomats have played a crucial role in bridging the gap between rich and poor nations, particularly during the forging of the Paris agreement in 2015.
But when the new government takes power in January, the foreign ministry that leads that work will be headed by a man who claims climate science is merely “dogma”.
In his blog, Araújo states his goal is to “help Brazil and the world liberate themselves from globalist ideology”, which he sees as anti-Christian.
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The right wing Jair Bolsonaro government was elected after a previous green left wing president was jailed for 12 years over contract fraud, a huge scandal involving theft of vast sums of money from the state owned oil company.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro survived an assassination attempt during the campaign which almost claimed his life. He continued to run the campaign from his hospital bed – a level of determination which many believed helped cement his victory.
Naturally President Bolsonaro’s opponents are flinging the usual slurs – racist, dictator, anything else they can think of. But this time it isn’t working.
This all seems very familiar somehow.
One interesting thing I noticed, Google Translate doesn’t seem to work on Ernesto Araújo’s blog, at least when I try it. I was hoping to obtain a translated copy of the original statement about cultural marxism. If anyone speaks Brazilian Portuguese please post a translation in comments if you can find it.
Bolsonaro said before the election that he intends to stay in the Paris Agreement, for now – though I suspect it may be a short stay.
