The evangelical foreign policy model: Jair Bolsonaro and evangelicals in Brazil

Abstract

The article proposes an evangelical foreign policy model to analyse the relationship between evangelical groups and conservative governments in foreign policymaking. Using Brazil as a case study, we argue that the model is defined by the convergence of views and interests between conservative cabinet members and domestic evangelical groups on four foreign policy issues that are critical to evangelicals worldwide – the relationship with Israel, persecution of Christian minorities, abortion rights, and evangelical missions in Africa. To analyse the convergence, we use an original database of 207 speeches from Brazilian evangelical parliamentarians (Evangelical Parliamentary Front) and 1992 discourses from Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet members from January 2019 to July 2022, as well as multiple documents from the main evangelical groups in Brazil. In the case of Brazil, this is the first time that typical religious considerations have been officially adopted by the country’s foreign policy, indicating the growing importance of evangelical thinking in Brazilian politics. This is also one of the first analyses, not centred in the United States, that shows how views and interests of evangelical groups and conservative governments converge in international affairs, broadening perspectives on the political participation of the ever-growing evangelical movement in the Global South.

Keywords:

• Evangelism
• conservativism
• foreign policy
• Jair Bolsonaro
• Brazil

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Toft et al. (2011, 9) define ‘political theology’ as ‘the set of ideas that a religious community holds about political authority and justice’. In this paper, the term ‘theological’ is used in the same sense, to denote a series of beliefs that shape religious actors’ political stances.

2 According to data from the Brazilian Census conducted in 2010, Pentecostals make up 60% of total evangelicals. Traditional protestant sects, established in the 1800s – also called Historic Protestant churches or Mission Churches (Igrejas de Missão) – account for 18.5%, and others (non-determined) 21.8%. Source: IBGE Population Census (2010).

3 Juliana Castro, “Bolsonaro diz que Brasil passou a votar na ONU seguindo a Bíblia,” O Globo, April 11, 2019.

4 See the following articles by Ernesto Araújo: “Now We Do,” The New Criterion (2019), 37 (5); and “Trump e o Ocidente,” Cadernos do IPRI (2018), Issue 06, pp. 323–358.

5 Eliane Oliveira, “Governo deixa religião guiar política externa sob argumento de que Brasil é ‘país cristão,’” O Globo, February 16, 2020.

6 The Bolsonaro administration was composed of various groups with different ideological strands. In terms of those closer to the evangelical groups, there was an important political faction that followed the teachings of the ultra-conservative thinker Olavo de Carvalho – including Filipe Martins, Ernesto Araujo and Eduardo Bolsonaro. Many of them were evangelicals, such as the minister Damares Alves who had close contact with Ernesto Araújo, a Christian conservative. There were also those who supported the return to monarchy, such as Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Bragança and Carla Zambeli. However, it is interesting to note that such groups, despite having ideological differences, tended to have a fruitful political relationship amongst themselves. Eduardo Bolsonaro, for example, belonged to multiple groups. In other words, although we observed clear political differences among them, there were significant similarities in their foreign policy narratives, especially when it comes to defending Christian values.

7 The APIs containing the speeches from Brazilian congressmen and other information about the federal legislative can be found at https://dadosabertos.camara.leg.br/swagger/api.html and https://legis.senado.leg.br/dadosabertos/docs/ui/index.html

8 Wordscores is a technique created by Laver, Benoit, and Garry (2003) as a computational alternative to traditional text analysis using hand-coding.

9 Thaís Chaves, “Bolsonaro vota contra palestinos na onu e fere tradição diplomática,” Carta Capital, March 22, 2019.

10 Jeffrey Heller, “Bolsonaro inicia visita a Israel com decisão pendente sobre embaixada,” Reuters, March 31, 2019.

11 To mitigate this clash between Bolsonaro’s ideologically pro-Israel position and rural producers who wanted to preserve favourable relations with Arab countries, in April 2019, Minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina held a dinner with 55 members from different Arab states in Brasilia. Tereza Cristina thus signaled to Muslim states and producers that Bolsonaro’s ideological stance was less extreme than his visit to Israel appeared to be. However, she also indicated to the Brazilian government the need for a more careful stance in relation to Jerusalem and the Arab countries.

12 Julia Carneiro, “Malafaia garante que Bolsonaro mudará embaixada em Israel: ‘Vai ter que ser macho, e acho que ele é,’” BBC Brasil, April 1, 2019.

13 Talita Fernandes, “Bolsonaro afirma que transferirá embaixada para Jerusalém até 2021,” Folha de São Paulo, February 3, 2020.

14 Mariana Schreiber, “Como o apoio evangélico ajudou a aproximar Israel e governo Bolsonaro,” BBC Brasil, January 9, 2019.

15 Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “President Trump’s Peace to Prosperity Plan to solve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict,” January 31, 2020, https://www.gov.br/mre/en/contact-us/press-area/press-releases/president-trump-s-peace-to-prosperity-plan-to-solve-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict

16 Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Declaração Conjunta Brasil–Israel – Jerusalém”, March 7, 2021, https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/canais_atendimento/imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/declaracao-conjunta-brasil-israel-jerusalem-7-de-marco-de-2021

17 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Press Release: FM Ashkenazi meets with Brazilian FM Ernesto Araújo,” March 7, 2021.

18 Guga Chacra, “Bolsonaro não quer dar visto a muçulmanos perseguidos pelo Talibã,” O Globo, September 9, 2021.

19 Jamil Chade, “Itamaraty contraria Constituição e prega religião como política de Estado,” UOL, November 28, 2019.

20 Leonardo Desideri, “Aliança pela Liberdade Religiosa une Trump e Bolsonaro,” Gazeta do Povo, February 6, 2020.

21 Office of International Religious Freedom, “Declaration of Principles for the International Religious Freedom Alliance,” February 5, 2020, https://www.state.gov/declaration-of-principles-for-the-international-religious-freedom-alliance/

22 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Address by Minister Ernesto Araújo at the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance Ministers’ Forum,” November 17, 2020, https://www.gov.br/mre/en/content-centers/speeches-articles-and-interviews/minister-of-foreign-affairs/speeches/intervention-by-minister-ernesto-araujo-at-the-international-religious-freedom-or-belief-alliance-ministers2019-forum-2013-17-11-2020

23 National Association of Evangelical Jurists, “Nota Pública sobre menções à liberdade religiosa e cristofobia no discurso do Presidente da República na ONU,” September 23, 2020, https://anajure.org.br/nota-publica-sobre-mencoes-a-liberdade-religiosa-e-cristofobia-no-discurso-do-presidente-da-republica-na-onu/

24 Câmara dos Deputados – DETAQ, “Discurso Sr. Eli Borges – Solidaridade TO,” April 24, 2019, Brasília, Câmara dos Deputados.

25 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Brazil’s Candidacy for the UN Humans Rights Council,” 2019, Brasília, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

26 Chris Tonietto, Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation YouTube channel, August 4, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2oYwBRjc80&list=PLY4MsNDouGfjowQHOa7SCxMaM64DIaKk3&ab_channel=Funda%C3%A7%C3%A3oAlexandredeGusm%C3%A3o

27 Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights, “Governo participará de debate na Polônia sobre direitos das mulheres,” November 11, 2020, https://www.gov.br/mdh/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2020-2/novembro/governo-participara-de-debate-sobre-direitos-das-mulheres-na-polonia

28 Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, “Brasil reafirma posição de defesa da vida desde a concepção,” February 22, 2020, http://www.funag.gov.br/images/2020/NovaPoliticaExterna/NPE_en/Damares-ONU.pdf

29 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “The Geneva Consensus Declaration Virtual Signing Ceremony,” October 22, 2020, https://www.gov.br/mre/en/contact-us/press-area/press-releases/the-geneva-consensus-declaration-virtual-signing-cerimony-october-22nd-2020

30 Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights, “Brasil assina declaração sobre defesa do acesso das mulheres a promoção da saúde,” October 23, 2020, https://www.gov.br/pt-br/noticias/assistencia-social/2020/10/brasil-assina-declaracao-sobre-defesa-do-acesso-das-mulheres-a-promocao-da-saude

31 Jamil Chade, “Itamaraty assumirá papel de Trump em agenda ultraconservadora, revela email,” UOL, January 29, 2021.

32 National Association of Evangelical Jurists, “Sobre a (im)parcialidade do Supremo: a questão do aborto,” July 30, 2018, Brasília. https://anajure.org.br/sobre-a-imparcialidade-do-supremo-a-questao-do-aborto/.

33 Roberto de Lucena, “Roberto de Lucena lança a Frente Parlamentar dos Direitos Humanos focada na ‘agenda da vida,’” December 12, 2020, Brasília. https://www.podemos.org.br/noticias/roberto-de-lucena-lanca-a-frente-parlamentar-dos-direitos-humanos-focada-na-agenda-da-vida/.

34 The Evangelical Advisory Board, a group formed during the 2016 election to support Trump’s campaign, lobbied heavily to expand policies against women’s reproductive rights in the US foreign policy, especially concerning foreign aid (Meinderts 2020).

35 Andrea Dip, “Os pastores de Trump chegam à Brasília de Bolsonaro,” Agência Pública, August 12, 2019.

36 Juliana Gragnani, “Como a Igreja Universal criou um ‘império brasileiro’ na África,” BBC Brasil, May 15, 2022.

37 UCKG is present in 37 of the 54 African countries. BBC, “Como a Igreja Brasileira Criou um Império na África,” June 22, 2021.

38 João Fellet, “Evangélicos fazem ofensiva para dominar política externa do Brasil para África,” BBC Brasil, December 23, 2020.

39 Matheus Magenta, “Provas ‘contundentes’ apontam lavagem de dinheiro da Universal em Angola, dizem investigadores,” BBC, June 7, 2021.

40 Thiago Nolasco, “Itamaraty convoca embaixador de Angola e repete informações. Fontes ligadas às negociações dizem que estão trabalhando com afinco e que aguardam a posição do governo angolano,” R7 Notícias, May 13, 2021.

41 R7 notícias, “Senado chama embaixador de Angola para explicar deportações. Governo brasileiro quer esclarecimentos sobre a deportação ilegal de missionários da Igreja Universal,” May 16, 2021.

42 Gilberto Nascimento, “Universal pressiona, mas mantém pragmatismo e apoio a Bolsonaro após conflito em Angola,” BBC, May 21, 2021.

43 Ricardo Coletta, “Bancada evangélica vai ao Itamaraty cobrar apoio à Universal após deportação de pastores de Angola,” Folha de São Paulo, May 17, 2021.

44 Manuel Luamba, “Caso IURD: Relações Angola-Brasil em risco?,” Deutsche Welle, July 26, 2021.

45 Ricarco Coletta, “Bolsonaro retira indicação de Crivella para embaixador na África do Sul,” Folha de São Paulo, November 29, 2021.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Feliciano de Sá Guimarães

Feliciano de Sá Guimarães is a Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations, University of São Paulo.

André Felipe Miquelasi

Andre Felipe Miquelasi holds an MA in International Relations and Democratic Politics from the University of Westminster. He is currently a PhD candidate at the King’s College London. His doctoral research explores how Brazilian evangelicals understand and influence international relations.

Gustavo Jordan Ferreira Alves

Gustavo Jordan Ferreira Alves holds an MA in International Relations from the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Irma Dutra Gomes de Oliveira e Silva

Irma Dutra Gomes de Oliveira is a PhD candidate at the Institute of International Relations, University of São Paulo. Her doctoral research focuses on conspirational theories in international relations.

Karina Stange Calandrin

Karina Stange Calandrin holds a PhD in International Relations from the State University of São Paulo (San Tiago Dantas Program) and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of International Relations, University of São Paulo.