In recent decades, Brazil has found in China an attractive partner helping provide Latin America’s most populous country with some autonomy from the West. Since assuming office in 2019 however, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has adopted a more critical stance swinging between the pro-Trump, anti-China rhetoric on which he was elected and a more conciliatory approach highlighting the economic importance of the relationship with Beijing. While focus on the Brazil, China, US triangle to date has primarily focused on trade, an incipient tech war over 5G is poised to further raise the stakes.
Against this backdrop, the panellists will discuss Brazil’s relations with China and the US. While the US warns countries against deepening ties with China, what alternatives does it offer Brazil? What are the risks for Brazil of being caught in a geopolitical crossfire between these two countries? Alternatively, can it leverage Sino-US competition to its advantage? And how will Bolsonaro’s government navigate the intense pressure from Washington and Beijing over whether or not to exclude Huawei from the country?
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Participants
Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel, Associate Professor of International Relations, Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV); Columnist, EL PAÍS and Americas Quarterly
Louise Marie Hurel, Research and Project Development, Cybersecurity and Digital Liberties Programme, Igarapé Institute
Huw Jenkins, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Banco BTG Pactual and BTG Pactual Participations; CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP SA)
Dr Elena Lazarou, Associate Fellow, US and the Americas Programme, Chatham House; Policy Analyst, European Parliamentary Research Service
Chair: Dr Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, US and the Americas Programme, Chatham House
