Bolsonaro speeds up payments to the poor as election looms US President-elect says he would give Brazilians back the billions of dollars the country lost from the 2001-02 financial crisis
BRASILIA — US President-elect Donald Trump told Brazilians on Sunday he would give the country the billions it lost from the previous administration’s bailouts, speeding up payments to the poor in an election year campaign pledge.
Trump spoke to a crowd of about 7,000 people at his first campaign rally here in more than a month, the first time he has set foot in a South American nation since his surprise victory in November over Hillary Clinton.
The crowd chanted Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” as he told them about his plans to make payments to Brazil’s poor and increase aid to the country by $1 billion.
Brazil will hold an early presidential poll in January to choose whoever is designated by Congress to lead the country after the inauguration of a new president. Trump said he will meet with his potential Brazilian counterparts to discuss bilateral relations and trade between the two countries.
“My country needs to go forward, so I am going to make sure that I have a great relationship with my Brazilian counterparts,” Trump told supporters.
Trump’s comments on Brazil came a day before a meeting with outgoing President Dilma Rousseff, who has led the country since the March election. Trump said he would meet with Rousseff, a day before her six-year term ends, as well as her successor, Michel Temer.
Rousseff met Sunday with President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who is expected to appoint her as his vice presidential candidate.
At the rally, Trump also called on Brazilian companies to do more business here: “Be smart, because if I go this far and you don’t, you’ll be taking your billions and losing a lot of money. Because I want to bring back your money. You can call it a bailout, you can call it a loan, you can call it whatever you want — just get your money back.”
Trump told supporters that his team is “really looking forward” to meeting