Amid threats and challenges to the Brazilian electoral system by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the United States Senate approved this Wednesday afternoon (28) a resolution in favor of respect for democracy in Brazil.
The resolution was spearheaded by Senators Bernie Sanders, with support from Tim Kane, chairman of the Congressional Foreign Relations subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere; Patrick Leahy, pro-tempore president of the Senate; Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren.
Four days before the first round, the text approved by consensus and asks the Bolsonaro government to “ensure that the October 2022 elections are conducted in a free, fair, credible, transparent and peaceful manner.”
The approved document also asks that the government of Democrat Joe Biden automatically recognize the result of the election in Brazil, in an effort to show that Bolsonaro will not have international support if he does not accept the result of the polls, and review relations between the countries in the event of an election. blow.
The text had been presented at the beginning of the month, along with a similar initiative in the Chamber. Although he does not mention President Bolsonaro explicitly, Sanders has mentioned a number of times in recent weeks, including this Wednesday in the Parliament’s tribune, the Brazilian’s threats to the electoral system.
Last week, he had complained in the Senate rostrum about the lack of adherence of representatives of the Republican Party to the motion. Former President Donald Trump, still a powerful figure in the legend, expressed public support for Bolsonaro in the elections. On Wednesday, the resolution passed without objection from House Republicans.
“With this vote, the Senate sends a powerful message that it is committed to joining arms with the Brazilian people in support of the country’s democracy, and remains confident that Brazil’s electoral institutions will guarantee a free, fair and transparent election.” Kaine said in a note.
“It would be unacceptable for the United States to recognize a government that comes to power in an undemocratic way, and it would send a terrible message to the entire world. It is important for the people of Brazil to know that we are on their side, on the side of democracy,” he said. Bernie.
This is not the only initiative by American lawmakers against Bolsonaro. On the 9th, deputies and senators delivered a letter to Joe Biden in which they warn of the risk of a coup in the October presidential election and nominally accuse Bolsonaro of threatening democratic institutions.
On Tuesday (27), when asked if the White House would immediately recognize the result of the polls, as the lawmakers want, the Biden government spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, said that she would not go ahead with the elections, but repeated the message passed many times. times by the US government that it “trusts the strength of Brazilian democratic institutions.”
The most recent demonstration of this type took place on Saturday (24), when the US Embassy in Brazil released a note claiming to have “determination on the integrity of the electoral process led by the Superior Electoral Court”. “Our confidence in the Brazilian elections has been clearly reinforced by several high-ranking US government officials and remains unchanged,” the statement reads.
In July, after Bolsonaro summoned ambassadors to spread the coup’s thesis about the election, Washington’s representation in BrasÃlia issued a statement in which it said it trusted the Brazilian electoral system, a “model for nations”. Days later, at a conference of defense ministers from the Americas, Secretary Lloyd Austin argued that the military must be “under firm civilian control.”
In the only meeting he has had with Biden so far, Bolsonaro would have asked for help to defeat the favorite in the polls, former president Lula (PT), according to the Bloomberg news agency. At the meeting in Los Angeles, the Brazilian repeated that he wanted “clean, reliable and auditable elections”; the American responded, according to the State Department, that “the US does not tolerate election intervention from anywhere.”
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