Marcelo Queiroga extends his stay in New York.
However, involuntarily: Brazil's Minister of Health was tested positive for the corona virus by the UN General Assembly before the departure of the Brazilian delegation.
Queiroga will therefore spend the next few days in quarantine.
Perhaps he will find time to think about the performance of his country - and about his own behavior.
Because Queiroga itself has made headlines.
As he was leaving a dinner on Monday and drove past a group of demonstrators, he rushed to the window of a minibus and showed the crowd the middle finger.
Tjerk Brühwiller
Correspondent for Latin America based in São Paulo.
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Otherwise, Brazil did not attract attention because of its diplomatic sophistication. It had already started with the meeting between President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday. When the journalists were told to leave the room, Johnson thanked them and encouraged them to get the UK vaccine from AstraZeneca. He told Bolsonaro that he had already received both doses. Bolsonaro pointed his finger at himself, then waved it in the negative and said, "Not yet." Then he burst out laughing. His health minister, who was probably already infected at this point, laughed along in the background.
The British tabloids sharply criticized Bolsonaro that same day.
His vaccination status also met with astonishment from delegations from other countries, as they had agreed to travel fully vaccinated.
As the only unvaccinated head of state, Bolsonaro opened the General Assembly the next day.
He ignored the recommendations of the moderate wing of his government to be diplomatic in order not to isolate Brazil even more internationally.
Instead, Bolsonaro repeated his hymn of praise for inefficient drugs for "preventive treatment" of the coronavirus.
He presented the world with a distorted picture of Brazil.
His followers celebrate Bolsonaro as a hero
Some analysts spoke of a "parallel reality" with reference to several demonstrably incorrect, exaggerated or contradicting representations. His government is free from corruption, said Bolsonaro, while investigations are ongoing into, among other things, the procurement of vaccines and even alleged crimes of his sons. Brazil has excellent environmental laws, he said, while deforestation has increased more than fifty percent since he took office. His government supported the vaccination campaign, he said, while there is evidence that offers for vaccine deliveries went unanswered for months and Bolsonaro had long been ridiculed for vaccination.
Bolsonaro's speech lasted twelve minutes, and he spoke not to the world but to his followers in his own country. They celebrate him as a hero for it. For everyone else, Brazil's performance was insignificant, if not ridiculous. Some of those present applauded. Among them was Health Minister Queiroga, who had accompanied Bolsonaro to the plenary and now has to wait for his return trip.