Amid repeated reports of the Brazilian president asking the American president to assist him in his reelection in October, and repeated allegations of electoral fraud by Bolsonaro while still in the US, the Biden administration is reaffirming “full trust” in the Brazilian electoral system.
Without denying or approving the content of a report by Bloomberg agency that claims Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will seek help from his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to seek re-election in the October presidential election, the White House told BBC News Brasil, “the selection process of candidates through a spokesperson who hopes it will respect its “constitutional outcome” and reaffirms “full confidence” in the country’s electoral system.
“Broadly speaking, we have full confidence in Brazil’s electoral system. In a consolidated democracy like Brazil’s, we expect candidates to respect the constitutional outcome of the electoral process,” the White House spokesperson said. said.
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The show takes place less than a week after the first meeting between Bolsonaro and Biden, which took place in Los Angeles on the sidelines of the 9th American-hosted Summit of the Americas.
In the first ten minutes of the meeting, open to the press, the American president mentioned that the South American country has “strong electoral institutions” and “an inclusive democracy”.
The comments came in response to Bolsonaro’s repeated claims – without proof – that electronic voting machines would be unreliable, that the military should be involved in the vote count, and that he might not accept the outcome of the election, which would take less than 4 months. In election polls, the president seeking re-election ranked second in popular preference.
Speaking in front of Biden and the press, Bolsonaro said: “I am sure that the elections will be held in this democratic way. I came for democracy and I am sure that when I leave the government it will be in a democratic environment too.”
However, he said, “We want clean, reliable and auditable elections so that there is no doubt after the election,” a typical argument when accusing the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) of not guaranteeing security and credibility. Bolsonaro’s repeated results cannot be verified, something TSE denies.
However, after these first minutes, the conversation lasted for more than half an hour. In the final episode, Bolsonaro broke protocol and wanted to be alone with Biden without the eight assistants accompanying each of the leaders in the room.
In the end, only the heads of state, an interpreter and two foreign policy heads of the countries remained in the room. Bolsonaro said both representatives “less than a meter” and “unmasked” were discussed there as “state secrets”.
But Bolsonaro took advantage of the more candid atmosphere to ask Biden to help him get reelected in Brazil, according to a Bloomberg report released four days ago.
The American agent attributes the information to “persons familiar with the matter”, claims Bolsonaro referred to Lula as “radical leftist” and “contrary to American interests”, and says that Biden simply changed the subject upon request.
Asked by BBC News Brasil whether they would endorse such a report, both the White House, the State Department and the US National Security Council declined to reject or confirm the content of the report.
“The United States has repeatedly expressed confidence in Brazil’s democratic institutions and respects Brazil’s strong history of free and fair elections,” a State Department spokesperson told BBC News Brazil.
Bolsonaro denied making such a request on Tuesday 14/6.
“There’s no such thing there. There was an extended one-on-one meeting with 20 people present, a 30-minute meeting, and then I asked Joe Biden for a separate meeting. Bloomberg) does not cite the source, ‘according to these people’. Speaking to CBN Recife radio, Bolsonaro said. “The things I talked to Biden did not come from me, but from[Secretary of State]Carlos França. This is speculation,” he said.
‘US does not tolerate interference’
Bolsonaro, both during the bilateral meeting and in his speech at the Summit, tried to show the Americans that not only Brazil but also his government was aligned with the interests of the White House.
While Biden has been openly criticized by other Latino leaders for choosing to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Summit, Bolsonaro has put himself before the American president as a bulwark against the advance of authoritarian left regimes on the continent, something valuable in Washington.
The Biden administration, on the other hand, is dissatisfied with Bolsonaro’s escalating attacks on the Brazilian election, and sees in Brazil’s behavior echoes of the stance taken by Republican Donald Trump, which led to the invasion of the US Congress in January 2021.
According to State Department spokesperson Kristina Rosales, the day after the meeting, Biden told Bolsonaro that “the United States does not tolerate interference in the electoral system anywhere”.
“We understand very well that there will be elections in Brazil in October in the coming months. We understand very well the anxiety of the Brazilian people on this issue. So much so that at the meeting President Bolsonaro said he respects democracy, he said he would respect the result. Yesterday (6/9) President Bolsonaro said that We will take the statement seriously,” he said.
Bolsonaro, who met with his supporters in Orlando, Florida after the meeting and before leaving the United States, once again reiterated his allegations of lack of confidence in the Brazilian elections. Bolsonaro said the only way to avoid “problems” such as acts of violence, such as the occupation of the Capitol, is for the TSE to engage in dialogue with the Armed Forces to make the choice, citing a recent sentence from the PDT chief. candidate, Ciro Gomes, “If Lula wins, Brazil goes to war”.
This text was originally published on BBC News Brazil.
source: Noticias
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