March 24, 2019

BRAZIL: Ahead Of New Leader Jair Bolsonaro’s First Meeting Tuesday With President Trump, Brazil Ends Visa Requirements For Visitors From U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia.

The Daily Caller
written by Evie Fordham
Wednesday March 20, 2019

Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, wants to “make Brazil great” and says he owes his life “to God” after being stabbed on the campaign trail, according to his interview with American media following his meeting with President Donald Trump Tuesday.

The U.S. and Brazil have had a fraught relationship in the past, but Bolsonaro and Trump want to turn over a new leaf. They have not, for example, ruled out cooperating in military action in Venezuela, where socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime is in turmoil.

“To a large extent, I support what Trump does; he wants to make America great, I also want to make Brazil great. I also have concerns about the indiscriminate entrance of foreigners without any criteria. But beyond this, we are both Christians and we are God-fearing men,” Bolsonaro told Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in an interview published Wednesday.

Bolsonaro’s election marked a turn in his home country as well. Brazil had been ruled by politicians from the left for years, and Bolsonaro is the country’s first conservative leader in its democratic era, reported CBN.

“It is time to overcome old resistances and explore the very best potential between Brazil and the United States. After all, it is fair to say that today, Brazil does have a president who is not anti-American,” Bolsonaro said in the White House Rose Garden Tuesday, according to CBN.

Bolsonaro is only three months into his first term and has been nicknamed “Trump of the Tropics” for his brash rhetoric and desire to bring conservative reform to Brazil. Bolsonaro’s critics claim he uses “misogynistic and homophobic” rhetoric and wants to take away land rights from indigenous people.

The Brazilian politician also discussed the stabbing that almost cost him his life when he was a leading candidate in his country’s presidential election in 2018. The man who allegedly stabbed him was a former member of a socialist political party and sympathizer of radically left leaders.

“Doctors who attended to me said that for every 100 stabbings of the kind I endured, only one person survives. So, I am a survivor and owe my life to God. It was His will for me to live,” Bolsonaro told CBN.

Prompted by Bolsonaro’s White House visit, progressive U.S. lawmakers piled on criticism of the Brazilian leader after decrying U.S. action in Venezuela against Maduro.

Brazil recognized Guaido over Maduro in January. Maduro compared Bolsonaro to former German dictator Adolf Hitler in a speech on Jan. 14 after he questioned the integrity of Venezuela’s elections.
The Wall Street Journal
written by Samantha Pearson
Monday March 18, 2019

SÃO PAULO—Brazil has dropped visa requirements for visitors from the U.S. and several other nations, ahead of new leader Jair Bolsonaro’s first meeting Tuesday with President Trump.

Brazil’s government said Monday that tourists and business travelers from the U.S., as well as Canada, Japan and Australia, won’t need visas to visit the Latin American country as of June 17.

Please CLICK HERE to read the entire article...
Conde Nest Traveler
written by Katherine LaGrave and Meredith Carey
Tuesday March 19, 2019

In 2016, Brazil temporarily waived visa requirements for U.S. travelers to the country in the hopes of drawing travelers for the Summer Olympics. Two years later, in January 2018, it launched an e-visa program that let U.S. citizens get a visa with the click of a button, and for $44 instead of the usual $160. Now, the Brazilian government has officially scrapped the visa requirement for U.S. travelers altogether.
I would like to point out that this article from Conde Nest Traveler doesn't mention President Trump at all. Nor does this article mention the date Brazil's government made this change because it happened the day before Brazil's President met with President Trump. This article ends telling the reader this article was published in January 2019 and has been updated with new information? wth? Brazil made the announcement on Monday, March 18, 2019. I did a google search for another article with better details and almost everything in my search was skewed Left and just plain mean like bratty children. People want news, not the crapola that's being put out there. The Wall Street Journal piece was the only non-partisan article I could find on the Brazil visa subject. (emphasis mine)
Starting June 17, American visitors to Rio, São Paulo, and the rest of the country will be able to stay for up to 90 days each year without a visa. But it isn't just Americans who are getting in on visa-free entry: Canadian, Japanese, and Australian passport holders will also be able to enter the country without a visa after that June date. (If you're traveling to Brazil between now and mid-June, you'll still need to apply and pay for that e-visa here.)

“This is one of the most important achievements of the Brazilian tourism industry in the last 15 years and we are confident that it will be extremely beneficial to the country," Tourism Minister Marcelo Alvaro Antonio said in a press release. The move to eliminate visitor visas for Americans is part of a twofold initiative for Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was sworn in on January 1 and is looking to boost the country's tourism industry and align himself with the U.S. Brazil currently sees 6.6 million annual visitor—on par with countries like the Dominican Republic—but has a goal of drawing 12 million annual visitors by 2022.

Visa-free access to Brazil is good news for U.S. travelers, who have seen their passport lose power in recent years, thanks to a combination of things: the country's focus on tightening its borders and an unwillingness to revise its visa policies, and other countries' openness to visa-waiver agreements with diplomatic allies. We're coming for your spot, Japan.

This article was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated with new information.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 3:51 AM

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