Donald Trump deals a heavy blow to the man who 'followed his example'
(Baonghean) - Reuters news agency reported on May 25 that two days after Brazil became the world's second hottest spot for Covid-19 infections, the White House announced that it would restrict travel from this country to the United States.
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| Brazil has recorded more than 360,000 positive Covid-19 cases, second only to the US. Photo: AFP |
The travel ban is a blow to Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has taken a page from US President Donald Trump’s approach to the pandemic, resisting calls for social distancing and praising unproven drugs. The Brazilian leader’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
“The United States maintains a strong partnership with Brazil, and we are working closely to mitigate the health, economic, and social impacts of Covid-19 in Brazil,” the US Embassy in Brasilia said in a statement.
The restrictions, which will take effect on May 28, will prohibit non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States if they have been in Brazil in the previous two weeks, the diplomatic agency said. Some groups, such as green card holders, relatives of U.S. citizens and flight crew members, will be exempted.
For its part, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called it a technical decision in the context of “important bilateral cooperation” to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the $6.5 million in donations and the White House’s promise of 1,000 ventilators.
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| President Donald Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro at a press conference on March 19, 2019. Photo: Reuters |
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the new restrictions would help ensure that foreign nationals do not bring new cases to the United States, but would not apply to trade between the two countries. US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told CBS on May 24 that he hoped to revisit the move at some point: "We hope it's temporary, but given the situation in Brazil, we're going to have to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the American people."
An adviser to the Brazilian president also downplayed the impact of Mr Trump’s move, stressing the two leaders’ shared view of fighting the virus with unproven anti-malarial drugs for Covid-19. “There is no specific content against Brazil,” Filipe Martins, Mr Bolsonaro’s international affairs adviser, said. Two hours earlier, he had also written that Mr Trump had “opened a direct phone line to exchange information on how to use hydroxychloroquine and other treatments for Covid-19.”
