New leader for Brazil: 'Tropical Trump' to reshape foreign policy
Updated 16:08, 01-Nov-2018
By Zheng Weiyu and Wang Yushen
["china"]
01:24
Brazil's far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro won Sunday's election pledging a radically new direction in policy, ranging from a crackdown on crime to fresh foreign policy. So what are the new directions on the foreign policy? Let's find out.
The outspoken admirer of US President Donald Trump said he aims to improve ties with Washington, and following Trump's nationalist agenda, he pledged to reduce Brazil's engagement with the Mercosur trade bloc. 
Mercosur includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and was established in 1991 to promote free trade in South America. Bolsonaro has other ideas. He said: "We will seek bilateral relations that add to the economic and technological value of Brazilian products. We will restore international respect for our dear Brazil."
Bolsonaro also said he would move the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and shutter the Palestinian embassy in Brasilia. And his views on Beijing? Of course, he is content with China purchasing Brazil's commodities, like soy. China has been Brazil's largest trading partner for the past few years, with 75 billion US dollars in bilateral trade last year alone. But he has pledged to halt the Asian nation's enthusiastic purchasing of Brazil's energy and infrastructure sectors.