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The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has warned that the United States should not interfere in the upcoming presidential race of his country, which is being held in October.
Wednesday’s statement came after Lula and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, attended the Group of 7 (G7) meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France.
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At the press conference, Lula said that Trump deserves to continue his relationship with the Bolsonaro family, whose father, Jair Bolsonaro, led Brazil as president from 2019 to 2023.
“As far as I know, they can continue to love Bolsonaro, father, son, grandson,” Lula said. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s his problem.
But Lula then established a red line: no interference in Brazilian elections.
“Now, don’t interfere in the Brazilian elections, because the Brazilian elections are difficult for Brazil, just as the American elections are their business, not mine,” Lula said.
All I want is to respect Brazil as much as I have the United States.
The competition between Lula and Bolsonaro
Lula is currently the leading contender ahead of the October race. If the leftist leader wins, it will be his fourth term as Brazil’s president. He previously served from 2003 to 2011, before being re-elected for a third consecutive term in 2022.
But Lula’s main rival is a member of the Bolsonaro family: Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, Jair’s eldest son. Flavio is running as a candidate for the Liberal Party in Brazil.
Since his return to office for a second term, Trump has been accused of trying to sway Latin American elections in favor of right-wing candidates.
In Argentina, he threatening to withhold financial aid ahead of the general election last October, and in November, he he warned they can too stopping treatment in Honduras if the candidate is unsuccessful.
But in Brazil, questions have swirled about whether Trump’s previous actions amounted to illegal interference in the country’s judiciary.
Trump has made no secret of his support for the Bolsonaro family. Last year, after Jair Bolsonaro was accused of trying to defeat him in 2022, Trump made public announcements. letter calling the case a “witch hunt”.
“The way Brazil treated former President Bolsonaro, a respected leader of the world during his time, including the United States, is a global disgrace,” Trump wrote. “This crime should never happen.”
He also imposed taxes on other Brazilian assets and sanctions against members of Brazil’s judiciary, including Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
In September, Jair Bolsonaro was absent he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup and subverting Brazilian democracy.
Trump calls Brazil ‘bad’
But the legal collapse has extended beyond the Bolsonaro family. After the third son of Jairus, Eduardo Bolsonarohe advocated for the Trump administration on behalf of his father, accused of causing US interference in the justice system in Brazil.
This week, he was sentenced to four years in prison after Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that his actions were coercive. Eduardo has denied the charges and to be invited a matter against the will of the Brazilian courts.
Speaking at the G7 summit, Trump tried to address Eduardo’s decision, although he appeared to include his younger brother, Flavio, who is running for president.
“I heard they’re going to arrest a candidate for office today,” Trump said. “I heard that they will catch Bolsonaro’s youth, who is doing well in the polls.”
Trump also said that Brazil has become “dangerous” for right-wing politics, a sentiment he has expressed in the past.
“It’s been a little bit of a tough country, hasn’t it? Politically. A little bit scary, politically,” Trump once said.
At one point, he appeared to be comparing the US elections to Brazil. “They play hard, but no one plays harder than the United States. Look, our elections were rigged. We made rigged elections,” he said.
But at Lula’s press conference, which was held separately, the Brazilian president dismissed concerns about the country’s voting system.
He called paper ballots the technology of “years ago” and offered to show Trump – an opponent of electronic ballots – how the machine works.
Considering Trump’s assessment of Brazil, Lula also questioned the US president’s knowledge of the South American country.
“I think they don’t know Brazil well,” Lula said. “If he knows Brazil because of his relationship with the Bolsonaro family, then he doesn’t really know Brazil.”
