Senator Bernie Sanders and 30 Democratic deputies from the United States sent the country’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a letter in which they accuse the Donald Trump government of conducting a pressure campaign against Brazil on the eve of the first round, scheduled for October 4th. In the document, released this Thursday (24), parliamentarians state that the White House’s most recent actions “point to an apparent effort to interfere in Brazil’s general elections in October and, potentially, undermine them”. They demand that Washington commit to recognizing the certified results of the polls.
The main episode cited is the meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), in May. According to the letter, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) took the opportunity to ask the US to classify the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) as foreign terrorist organizations, which was done shortly afterwards. Congressmen claim that Brazilian authorities fear the measure will be used as a justification for sanctions and other extraterritorial actions. The group also recalls that Trump’s military attacks in Latin America were justified particularly by alleged threats from this type of organization.
“We write to express our grave concern regarding the government’s coordinated effort to threaten our strategic alliance with Brazil and destabilize the second largest democracy in the Western Hemisphere on the eve of its next presidential election in October 2026,” says an excerpt from the document.
The letter also points out that, “instead of helping to defend Brazilian democracy, the United States is acting as an agent of interference and destabilization — using diplomatic, economic and political pressure in ways that risk weakening the country’s democratic institutions, undermining confidence in Brazil’s electoral process and causing further damage to our relationship with a strategic ally and trading partner of the United States.”
This pattern of conduct, according to the document, would be risking not only the integrity of electoral processes in individual countries, “but progressively eroding voters’ trust in democratic processes and institutions across the region.”
The parliamentarians also point out that the “continuous and multifaceted campaign of interference and destabilization in Brazil” is due to the tariffs promoted by Trump and the US sanctions against ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The White House’s actions are classified as an “extraordinary violation” of Brazilian sovereignty.
The interference of the Trump administration in the Brazilian election, speculated for months, has been gaining ground to the point that the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) has to produce a confidential report, published by the newspaper Folha de S. Pauloregarding threats to the electoral process, raising the possibility of foreign influence to a “critical level”. Meanwhile, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) campaign contacted the STF and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on the issue.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
