Since Bolsonaro came to power, Brazil& #39;s international negotiating position has been incredibly weak: other countries can easily play off the government& #39;s warring factions against each other. Example: one faction attacks China, the other calls Beijing to apologize. [thread]

When Bolsonaro called Xi Jinping to as for forgiveness for his son& #39;s comment, China accepted the apology, but certainly used the phone call to ask for a favor or two -- a confirmation that Huawei will build Brazil& #39;s 5G network, or a few privileges for other Chinese companies.

In such a moment of weakness, can Bolsonaro say no? Of course not. The anti-China rhetoric by Eduardo Bolsonaro and Weintraub, which China& #39;s diplomats happily respond to, thus escalating the situation -- is thus a wonderful moment for China to advance its interests with Brazil.

While you usually try to & #39;divide and conquer& #39; when negotiating with another country (e.g., playing off governors against each other who want to attract an investment), negotiating with Brazil is easy: it is already divided.