‘It’s better to treat us well, otherwise we’re going to give a fuck’, says Guedes, criticizing France

The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, played down the criticism of Brazil’s environmental policy that would have been made by members of the French government and used a vulgar expression to demand better treatment of Europeans.

“You [França] are becoming irrelevant to us. You better treat us right, otherwise we’ll give you a fuck and we’ll go somewhere else. Because you are becoming irrelevant,” said the minister.

Guedes recounted the dialogue with “a minister from France”, without naming names, during a meeting of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), a kind of club of rich countries that Brazil wants to be a part of.

The minister rescued the episode during his speech at the opening ceremony of the 34th Abrasel National Congress (Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants), on Tuesday night (9).

“Once there was a minister from France there, [que disse] ‘you [governo brasileiro] is burning the forest’. I said ‘and you are burning Notre-Dame'”, said Guedes, referring to the fire in the historic cathedral located in Paris, which occurred in 2019.

“Idiot accusation, man. You [França] It’s not burning Notre-Dame, but it’s a block away and you couldn’t stop it, it caught fire. Now we have an area that is bigger than Europe and you are criticizing us”, said the minister, recalling the dialogue with the Europeans.

Then, Guedes said he also mentioned the trade relations between the countries. According to the minister, Brazil’s trade with France was around US$ 2 billion in the early 2000s, a level similar to that maintained with China, now a superpower.

Years later, trade with France is worth US$7 billion, while trade with China has jumped to US$120 billion. It was in this context that he made the statement that the French are becoming “irrelevant” and should treat Brazil better, otherwise the country will “give the fuck up”.

The Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) has been criticized, since the beginning of his administration, for the increase in deforestation and fires. This year through July, 12,906 fires were detected, an increase of 13% compared to the first seven months of 2021, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).

The OECD itself included in the documents that formalize the beginning of negotiations for Brazil’s entry into the entity obligations to reduce deforestation and climate change mitigation measures provided for in the Paris agreement.

Guedes, in turn, has said that the war in Ukraine and the attempt by several countries to depend less on Russia for gas supplies opened up a new front of business possibilities for Brazil, a country considered a power in renewable energy.

“Brazil is very well positioned, even abroad,” said the minister. He said he has been in constant dialogue with the OECD secretary-general, Mathias Cormann, on the subject. “They condemned Brazil, criticized it for its environmental policy, and he understood the following: look, help us, instead of criticizing,” he said.