He may be welcome in Gulf sheikdoms, where religious faith and the sale of Brazilian military products, foodstuffs and even football clubs like Palmeiras are topics of discussion. But elsewhere in the world, Jair Bolsonaro is shunned.
The US president publicly avoids him. Hollywood celebrities give him the thumbs down. Europe’s top politicians not only snub Bolsonaro, they roll out the red carpet for Lula, his political nemesis. In diplomatic arenas, Bolsonaro is radioactive.
But what led to this political equivalent of a nuclear accident? Outside Brazil that question is seldom probed. Yet the build-up to this rupture developed over many years. 'Yesterday' looms large over 'today'. But let’s first consider some views of Brazil from abroad in the past few years.
