Less than four days before the first round of elections in Brazil, to be held next Sunday (2), 50 deputies of the European Parliament delivered a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and to the head of foreign policy of the bloc. , Josep Borell, asking the European Union to monitor the election, even if from a distance, and to support the country’s democratic institutions.
“The attacks on democratic institutions and the threats to not recognize the result of the elections, if the president [Jair] Bolsonaro is defeated, are extremely worrying”, says an excerpt from the document, presented this Wednesday (28).
The list of signatories is headed by the deputy of the Green Party and vice-president for the European Parliament delegation to Brazil, Anna Cavazzini.
According to MEPs, “the Brazilian electronic voting system, in place since 1996, is considered safe and reliable and has been the target of repeated and unfounded attacks by President Jair Bolsonaro.” The text of the letter goes on to state that on July 18, in a meeting with diplomats from other countries, the Brazilian leader stated that the electronic system is completely vulnerable, without presenting any evidence of fraud.
“It wasn’t the first time he [Bolsonaro] tried to discredit Brazilian electoral institutions”, the MEPs say. “In June he publicly promised to ‘go to war’ if necessary to avoid a ‘stolen’ election, and on 19 September, less than a month before the vote, he declared that the election would be rigged if it did not win with 60% of the votes in the first round. We fear he may prevent a peaceful transfer of power from being lost.”
trade sanctions
The signatories of the letter also warn of the level of threats and suggest that the European Union adopt trade sanctions if the result of the election is not respected.
“Given the unprecedented threats to Brazil’s general elections, we ask that additional steps be taken to make it unequivocally clear to President Bolsonaro and his government that Brazil’s Constitution must be respected and that attempts to subvert the rules of democracy are unacceptable. It is also essential to dissuade Brazil’s military leadership from any temptation to support a coup.”
The politicians point out that there will not be an electoral observation mission for the bloc in Brazil, “because there was no invitation from the Brazilian authorities in charge of the elections”. In May, the court gave up on having a delegation from the EU, despite having decided to increase the number of international entities to accompany this year’s election — the lack of collaboration from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it difficult to implement the plan.
However, they urge “the EU delegation in Brazil, as well as the European External Action Service [serviço diplomático do bloco] to closely monitor the situation and support Brazilian institutions and civil society organizations that defend democracy”.
Finally, they state that “the European Union must declare that it will use different levers, including trade, to defend democracy and human rights in Brazil.”
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