Putin and Bolsonaro: The Second Time as Farce?

Today on TAP: It’s not the Nazi-Soviet Pact, but their alliance is rotten nonetheless.

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The ideological reshuffling of the known world continues apace.

Yesterday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro paid a call on Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, after which each spoke enthusiastically about the mystic chords of homophobia and illiberalism that bind them together. Well, actually, they failed to mention the bigotries that underpin their policies and politics, but did effuse about their common concerns in matters relating to energy and agriculture, and the closer diplomatic ties they were creating.

Bolsonaro’s office denied that, despite its timing, his visit had anything to do with supporting Russia’s deployment of armed forces on its borders with Ukraine. (I suppose it’s theoretically possible that the only thing Bolsonaro has read about the current standoff is the analysis of the situation from the DSA International Committee, which neglected to mention Russia’s stationing of troops in assessing the factors that have led to the currently heightened tensions. I doubt, however, that this is the case.)

I suspect that what’s really behind Bolsonaro’s visit, at least in part, is his need to solidify his ties with both Russia’s cyber warriors and America’s Trumpian right. With his prospects for re-election in considerable jeopardy (his current approval ratings hover around 20 percent), widely seen by his compatriots as incompetent, corrupt, and autocratic, he’s in need of the kind of hacking operation directed at his political opponents that Russia is capable of mounting. Moreover, after having warm relations with Trump and cold if any relations with Biden, he could also use the support of Trumpworld if and when he needs to overturn the results of Brazil’s coming election. If Tucker Carlson can shower love on Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Bolsonaro probably wonders, why can’t he be the next tin-pot autocrat who rates Fox’s affections and contributions from the likes of Peter Thiel?

And Putin? If NATO sets up shop on his frontiers, why can’t he find allies in the Western Hemisphere?

Compared to the world-shaking impact of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, the meeting of Putin and Bolsonaro is small potatoes, but it gives off a distinctly foul smell.

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