US President Joe Biden told Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro (PL) that he trusts the Brazilian electoral system. The statement was made at the bilateral meeting that the two had on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas, this Thursday (9) – with which the American “was very pleased”, according to Kristina Rosales, spokeswoman for the State Department.
“We know that there will be elections in Brazil in October. We understand perfectly the concern of the Brazilian people with this issue. So much so that, at the meeting, President Bolsonaro himself said that he respects democracy, that he will respect the result. take seriously the words that come out of the mouth of the president, who is the highest authority in the country”, said the advisor, in a conversation with journalists this Friday (10).
The Brazilian leader has made a series of attacks on the electoral system and democracy, and in his own meeting with Biden, he repeated calls for a “clean, reliable and auditable” election — the country has never registered suspected fraud and has an auditable system. “I arrived [ao poder] for democracy and I am sure that when I leave the government, it will also be in a democratic way”, said Bolsonaro, before the meeting.
Rosales reaffirmed that the US trusts the Brazilian electoral process. “It’s a system that has worked, it’s safe and reliable. And that’s certainly what President Biden communicated yesterday. [a Bolsonaro]saying that we believe in this and hope that the result, whatever it may be, will be respected,” he continued. “We do not condone and do not accept intervention in the electoral system anywhere.”
The speech echoes a response given by Elizabeth Bagley, nominated by Biden to be the new ambassador to Brazil, on a Saturday in the Senate last month. According to her, Washington foresees difficulties in the election, but sees Brazilian institutions prepared to resist anti-democratic pressure. “Bolsonaro has said many things, but Brazil has been a democracy, it has democratic institutions, independent judiciary and legislature, freedom of expression. They have all the democratic institutions to hold free and fair elections,” she said at the time.
Regarding the results of this Thursday’s bilateral meeting, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said that Biden and the US government were very pleased with the meeting, for the opportunity to address issues that had been on hold for some time. It was the first time since the Democrat took office in January last year that the two leaders had spoken.
“President Biden was very pleased with the conversation and with Brazil’s presence at the summit. From the meeting, we know that Brazil has this support for broader issues,” he said. As examples, he cited the War in Ukraine and the fight against food insecurity.
“We are very grateful for Bolsonaro’s visit. This opens the door to a closer relationship between the two countries.” The Brazilian also praised the meeting and repeated, to journalists and even in his speech to the plenary this Friday, that he left it “amazed” with his American colleague.
On deforestation, Rosales said that the commitments assumed by Brazil are welcome, but that they need to be accompanied by practical actions. “The most important thing for us is not just the conversation, the declaration, but the act, the actions, the results. And it was put on the table that the theme of climate change, what is happening in the Amazon, is not a bilateral issue, it’s regional.”
