A delegation of representatives of Brazilian civil entities will travel to Washington next week and will meet with US officials to discuss the risk of a coup in Brazil’s presidential elections.
The group is scheduled to meet with Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Jamie Raskin, who is part of the special commission investigating the invasion of the US Congress, on January 6, 2021. Conversations with other US officials are also being scheduled.
Sanders was a 2016 and 2020 presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. He is considered one of the most left-wing voices in American politics.
Raskin, a congressman from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party, is involved in the investigation that has revealed more details about the organization of the Capitol invasion, when supporters of former President Donald Trump tried to forcibly reverse the Republican’s defeat at the polls.
The delegation will include representatives of entities such as Artigo 19, Conectas, Arns Commission, Greenpeace Brasil, ABGLT, Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), Conaq (National Coordination for the Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities) and Geledés (Instituto da Mulher Negra) .
The trip is being organized by the WBO (Washington Brazil Office) and, according to organizers, aims to address threats to the Brazilian electoral process and ask for a firm stance on respect for the outcome of the vote, whoever the winner is.
“The whole world is following closely the presidential elections in Brazil. In the US, there is an even greater sensitivity, because of the attempts to subvert the American electoral process in 2020 and the invasion of the Capitol in 2021. Brazilian organizations have a lot to say and to hear in this series of meetings”, said Paulo Abrão, executive director of the WBO.
Bolsonaro has questioned the credibility of the Brazilian electoral system, as did Trump: before the election, the Republican tried to plant several doubts about the security of the vote. After the poll showed a victory for Democrat Joe Biden, the Republican tried in several ways to reverse the result, including coercing officials who organized the elections, but without success. Biden took office on January 20, 2021.
This Monday, the Brazilian president again questioned the Brazilian electoral system and made coup threats, this time in a meeting with ambassadors in BrasÃlia.
