The US embassy said this Tuesday (19) that the Brazilian elections are a model for the world and that Americans trust in the strength of Brazil’s institutions.
The statement was released by the embassy press office a day after President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) invited dozens of ambassadors to the Palácio da Alvorada and repeated lies and conspiracy theories to discredit the Brazilian electoral system.
The chargé d’affaires of the American embassy, Douglas Koneff, who heads the embassy on an interim basis, attended the meeting with Bolsonaro.
“As we’ve stated before, elections in Brazil are for Brazilians to decide. The United States relies on the strength of Brazilian democratic institutions. The country has a strong track record of free and fair elections, with transparency and high levels of voter participation.” said the embassy.
“Brazilian elections, conducted and tested over time by the electoral system and democratic institutions, serve as a model for the nations of the hemisphere and the world,” he added.
The US embassy also stated that it is confident that the 2022 elections will reflect the “will of the electorate” and that Brazilian institutions continue to demonstrate their “deep commitment to democracy”.
“As Brazilians trust their electoral system, Brazil will once again show the world the enduring strength of its democracy,” he concluded.
Bolsonaro gathered on Monday (18) dozens of foreign ambassadors at Palácio da Alvorada to repeat conspiracy theories about electronic voting machines, discredit the electoral system and attack ministers of the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
The president’s speech with serial lies about the electoral system and once again in a coup tone provoked chain reactions of repudiation this Tuesday (19) at the top of the Judiciary and in different sectors of the Public Ministry.
One of the targets of this pressure was the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, who has shown himself to be aligned with the president on different issues and is once again asked to investigate him. A group of members sent Aras a representation requesting that the representative be investigated for electoral offenses.
Foreign ambassadors heard by the Sheet defined Bolsonaro’s presentation on Monday as a “Trumpist tactic” to divert the focus or even to prepare the ground for questioning the elections.
The Trumpist tactic is a reference to former US President Donald Trump, admired by Bolsonaro. Defeated by Joe Biden, Trump fueled conspiracy theories that the election was rigged and was the centerpiece of the episode that resulted in the invasion of the US Congress early last year.
After Bolsonaro’s lecture, which lasted about 50 minutes, the Sheet spoke with foreign diplomats who were at Palácio da Alvorada. They spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to comment on Brazilian domestic policy issues.
In the opinion of these foreign representatives, Bolsonaro tried, with the event, to divert the focus from problems that affect his government, such as inflation and fuel prices, while reinforcing the narrative that can be used to question the results of the polls in case of defeat for former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
The perception that Bolsonaro employed a Trumpist strategy, however, was not unanimous among ambassadors.
Part of the group, from countries with rulers sympathetic to Bolsonaro, considers the questions raised by the Brazilian leader to be well-founded and left Alvorada with their doubts against the ballot boxes reinforced.
A list of participants has not been released. In total, around 60 representatives of diplomatic missions were at Alvorada.
