Ernesto complains about story in the service of national and foreign interests in resignation letter – 29/03/2021 – Worldwide

A few hours after leaving the command of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the now ex-chancellor Ernesto Araújo published Monday evening (29) his letter of resignation, delivered to President Jair Bolsonaro.

In the text, he complains “of a false and hypocritical account, in the service of national and foreign interests, according to which my performance would compromise the obtaining of vaccines”.

Ernesto resigned after pressure from the top Congressional summit, which accused him of failing to fight the pandemic – he is believed to be one of those responsible for the failure of negotiations between the Brazilian and Indian governments to purchase a batch of vaccines against the coronavirus.

The Senate has become the main point of friction with Ernesto. The most recent episode, seen as the trigger for the exit, was a post on the ex-minister’s social media, in which he implicates a link between the House and the Chinese lobby via 5G, which he says , was at the origin of the pressure to bring it.

The former chancellor begins the letter by declaring that he fought “for the freedom and dignity of Brazil and the Brazilian people, for our sovereignty and our greatness”. He also says he tried to “put Itamaraty at the service of the dream of a new Brazil”, at the head of colleagues “for whom” diplomat “and” patriot “are not antonyms”.

Ernesto also writes that there are currents that want to regain power – “this power which, for decades when they wielded it, only brought delay, corruption and shame to Brazil” – for which “the truth has no importance”. “Truth sets free and lies enslave,” said the ex-minister, later saying that the lie is “used for a materialist project which aims to enslave Brazil and the Brazilians”.

The former chancellor concludes that he is making the post available “for the benefit of the national transformation project that you [Bolsonaro] senior. ”The president, by the way, is called“ dear boss ”.

The dismissal of Ernesto, avowed admirer of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, is a blow to the ideological wing of Bolonarianism, which in recent years has had the doors open to Itamaraty. The former minister has accumulated a legacy of controversies, controversial statements and management deemed ineffective in several respects. He will be replaced by Carlos Alberto Franco França, 56, who won the trust of Bolsonaro during the period he led the ceremony at the Planalto Palace.

A law graduate, France entered the diplomatic service in 1991. He is a discreet diplomat, little used to the spotlight and has a career linked to the Itamaraty ceremonial.

The zone is strategic in diplomacy, because it organizes the various events of the Chancellery and maintains close contacts with the Minister of State or, in the case of Planalto, with the President.

Like Ernesto when he was appointed to the Foreign Ministry, France was only recently promoted to ambassador and has never led a post abroad. But there is a difference from the former chancellor, according to his colleagues: he is considered a traditional and pragmatic diplomat, without professing the conservative radicalism of Ernesto and far removed from the influence of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, guru of bolonarism. We are a family business.

Despite this, Itamaraty members fear that their short time at the peak of their careers and the fact that they have not run any embassies will mean maintaining the influence of the ideological wing, especially MP Eduardo Bolsonaro ( PSL-SP) and internationally. presidential advisor, Filipe Martins.

Colleagues describe France as a calm and thoughtful professional, with a low profile, but who has had a weak career in the institution and is not known as a foreign policy maker.

With the confirmation of his choice by the president, he defeated strong competitors and with a longer trajectory at Itamaraty.

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