Brazil’s Bolsonaro: Make South America Great Again

SANTA FE, Argentina – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is urging his South American colleagues to borrow a slogan from America’s Donald Trump and focus on making their own nations great rather than emphasizing regional brotherhood.

Bolsonaro told a meeting of the Mercosur trade bloc Wednesday that “We don’t want a ‘Great Homeland’” — a reference to a region of several nations sharing a common culture.

In his words, “We want every country in South America to be autonomous, democratic, and that each country can be great. Just like Trump says that he wants to ‘Make America Great Again,’ I want to make Brazil great, Paraguay great, Bolivia great, Uruguay — all of our countries.”

It’s the first Mercosur summit since the group reached a free-trade deal with the European Union.