RIO DE JANERIO: The US ambassador identified for pleasant ties with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tendered his resignation after simply over a 12 months within the place and is leaving the diplomatic service, he mentioned in a press release on Thursday.
Ambassador Todd Chapman mentioned that he wrote to President Joe Biden on Wednesday to tell him of his determination, and that he could be transferring to Denver to be close to his kids and pursue different skilled alternatives.
His appointment in October 2019 got here as Bolsonaro was projecting ideological alignment with the US and then-President Donald Trump.
After Chapman’s arrival within the capital, Brasilia, in March 2020, he rapidly made headlines by cozying as much as Bolsonaro’s administration, significantly by internet hosting the president at a July 4 barbecue at his residence within the midst of the pandemic.
Pictures confirmed him carrying a cowboy hat and no masks, leaning in to hug Bolsonaro and posing with him and high aides. His entry constructed on pleasant relations, but additionally raised considerations he was maybe drawing too shut.
One one that spoke to The Related Press on situation of anonymity final 12 months confirmed native press studies that Chapman advised Brazil might affect Iowa’s vote within the US presidential election by lifting ethanol tariffs.
That prompted the Democratic chairman of the Home Overseas Affairs Committee to demand Chapman present written assurances he wasn’t urging Bolsonaro’s authorities to assist Trump’s reelection bid in potential violation of the Hatch Act, which bars govt department staff from partisan politics.
Chapman vehemently denied crossing strains. An avid birdwatcher, Chapman this 12 months more and more shared pictures and feedback on social media lauding Brazil’s nature and wildlife, and referred to as for sustainable growth.
That jibed with Biden’s calls for for Bolsonaro to take decisive motion to halt surging deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Information in current months have signaled the continued enhance of destruction, after Bolsonaro on the US-led local weather summit in April shifted his tone on Amazon preservation and confirmed willingness to step up dedication.
Thomas Traumann, a Brazilian political advisor, mentioned by telephone that Chapman’s departure might sign extra US strain on Brazil relating to environmental points.
Extra importantly, Traumann mentioned, Chapman is perceived in Brazil as pro-Trump and pro-Bolsonaro, which might have restricted his skill to make inroads with challengers to Bolsonaro’s 2022 re-election bid.
Chapman was deputy chief of mission on the US Embassy in Brasilia from 2011 to 2014 and US ambassador to Ecuador earlier than that. In a diplomatic profession spanning three a long time he has been posted to Afghanistan, Nigeria and Taiwan.
The Texas native highlighted in his assertion that he had served underneath three Democratic and three Republican presidents. “In my letter to President Biden, I needed him God’s blessings of knowledge and energy as he leads the American individuals,” he wrote.
