Brazilian economy minister on trade and international relations
Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital on relations with the U.S. and the need to openly trade with any partner.
Brazil enjoyed a warmer "relationship of love" between former President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro than it has with President Biden, which has been one of "indifference," Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes told Fox News Digital.
"Trump likes Bolsonaro, and Bolsonaro likes Trump, and then it went to indifference between Biden and Bolsonaro," Guedes said in an exclusive interview, adding that he believed personal relationships "should not materially affect" politics and business.
"We should be committed to democracies, to market economies, to clean debt, to human rights, to world of cooperation and trade, so I think we stand for the same values," he said.
Brazil’s economy has enjoyed solid growth as the nation continues its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The economics ministry in September revised growth projections from 2% to 2.7% due to "widespread expansion in various sectors," with similar projections in 2023. Private economists project that 2.39% growth this year and .5% next year remain more realistic targets, Reuters reported.
"The good news in Brazil is exactly that we are growing faster than all forecasts made before, and we are going to have a lower inflation than all [other] G7 countries," Guedes said. "So we are growing faster than the G7 countries and having lower inflation than the G7 countries. This is very important to us because we acted preemptively."
Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes speaks exclusively with Fox News Digital on a range of topics related to international relations and economic recovery as inflation remains a top concern around the globe.
More broadly, Guedes described Brazil’s evolution "from a state-driven economy to a market-driven economy, that also provides social protection to the most vulnerable." He added, "We are reducing taxes. We are stimulating the increase of private investments. We are privatizing."
Guedes noted that he recently "had a long meeting with most U.S. companies that are having investments in Brazil, and things are going very well." He added, "They're very happy. They're making money."
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Guedes argued a key to the strong growth this year has been Brazil’s willingness to trade with and receive investments from all partners – even at the cost of upsetting some nations.
"You have the French, the Spanish, the Americans and the Chinese are investing in Brazil. Everybody is investing in Brazil," Guedes said. "Brazil now is the widest investment frontier open in the world, is a safe harbor for investments."
President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a press conference on International Day Against Corruption at Planalto Palace on Dec. 9, 2021 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)
He dismissed criticism of accepting investment from China, arguing that the U.S. stood "cheek to cheek" with China for decades as China grew into one of the strongest economies in the world and the U.S. "didn’t touch" Brazil.
"When Nixon and Kissinger touched China, they could have touched Brazil, for instance, and Latin America. But the idea was to win the Cold War," Guedes said.
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"We like a lot of the U.S., but you guys have been down with the Chinese for 40 years, and now you got upset with each other, and we have been dancing with nobody for 20 or 30 years," he explained. "We closed our economies. So now we are opening the economy and receiving investment from all over the world."
Guedes stressed that the Chinese do not have a "decisive role" in the Brazilian economy, instead highlighting their role as "big importers of commodities" like food while they invest in infrastructure.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 13th BRICS summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 9, 2021. Xi delivered an important speech at the summit. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the summit as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over it. (Photo by Yue Yuewei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Guedes noted that "I doubt that any geopolitical pressure would work against us at all." He added, "If there is a war or something, they should be aware of what we could do with their investments there and not the other way around, and I believe who trades does not like war."
Guedes again urged the U.S. to increase its investment and partnerships in Brazil or risk losing out to countries like China and Russia.
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"I see that we are losing Latin America because the Western world is not taking care of its own civilization in terms of creating more links with the region," Guedes explained. "So if the Russians, if the Chinese are investing in Latin America, something is going wrong here because we are much closer [to the U.S.]. A near shore and friendly shore should be working."
Guedes pointed out the hypocrisy of criticizing and raising the alarm when other nations make deals with nations like Venezuela, China or Russia, but then turn around and make deals with those same nations when it is favorable.
Most recently, Brazil continued to trade with Russia while much of Europe and the U.S. approved crippling sanctions on Moscow. Guedes noted that despite the furor at the start of the invasion, the world has started to relent and eased up on critical Russian exports such as fertilizers and grains. In addition, he stressed that Brazil was the only one of the "BRICS" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – "that condemned the invasion of Ukraine."
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"[The] same thing here with Venezuela - we criticize Venezuela, but then the U.S. is the first to run there," Guedes said, referring to reports that the Biden administration has considered a deal to let Chevron pump oil again. "So is it for everybody? Or just the big guy who can do it and nobody else?"
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