The United States is confident that the second round of the presidential election in Brazil will be conducted by the authorities with “the same professionalism and the same peaceful spirit and civic duty” as the first round of the election, said this Friday (28) the spokesman. State Department voice, Ned Price.
Amid concerns in sectors of Washington about coup threats by president and reelection candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the US diplomacy spokesman said that “the people of Brazil, the US and the whole world have the full confidence of that Brazil will be able to organize a second round in the same way” as the first, “conducted with credibility and transparency”.
“Brazilian democracy has been tested by time, democratic institutions serve as a model for nations in the hemisphere [ocidental] and in the world. We have every expectation and confidence that this will continue to be true when Brazil completes the second round in the coming days,” Price told reporters two days before the election.
The statement comes on the same day that lawmakers from the American left again called on US President Joe Biden, asking for immediate recognition of the poll results – asked this Friday if the country intends to automatically recognize the winner, Price did not respond.
In a letter to the president, 31 parliamentarians —9 of them senators and 22 deputies— claim that “repeated attacks on Brazilian democratic institutions” are “a growing concern” and that, given the “refusal of President Bolsonaro to admit that he will respect the result of the election and, in the absence of substantiated allegations of irregularities”, the US and the international community must promptly recognize as early as Sunday (30) the winner of the election appointed by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).
The fear among those who follow Brazilian politics in the American capital is of a riot in Brazil similar to that of January 6, 2021 in Washington, when a crowd inflated by former President Donald Trump invaded the headquarters of Congress to prevent confirmation of Biden’s victory. in the election.
American diplomacy has tried to distance itself as much as possible from challenges to the electoral process by the Brazilian government. In July, after Bolsonaro summoned ambassadors to spread the coup’s thesis about the election, Washington’s representation in Brasília issued a statement in which it said it trusted the Brazilian electoral system, described as a “model for nations”.
In the letter sent to Biden this Friday, lawmakers refer to Brazilian electronic voting machines as “one of the safest and most reliable voting systems in the world” and claim that Bolsonaro has not presented evidence of fraud.
“Notwithstanding Brazilian society’s clear commitment to democracy, there are strong fears that if Bolsonaro loses he will contest the results of the second round, when the gap between Bolsonaro and Lula could be much smaller.”
“If these fears are confirmed and Bolsonaro actively rejects the election results, then we must be prepared to take an unequivocal stand in defense of democracy in Brazil,” the lawmakers say.
The letter was signed by Senators Bernie Sanders, Patrick Leahy (Pro Tempore Chairman of the Senate) and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez. On the side of the congressmen are also the head of the House Foreign Affairs committee, Gregory Meeks, and Jamie Raskin, who is investigating the Capitol invasion – with the exception of the independent Sanders, all are from the Democratic Party.
It is the most eloquent statement made by American congressmen between the first and second rounds. The international community was more active in the campaign ahead of the first round, when lawmakers also wrote to Biden, asking him to make it clear that Brazil would lose support for joining the OECD and non-NATO ally status if Bolsonaro insisted on acts of violence. scammer tone.
In the week of the first round, the Senate still approved a motion by Bernie Sanders in favor of democracy in Brazil. On the same day, 51 members 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 Borrell, which urged the EU to monitor the election and support the democratic institutions of the European Union. Brazil.
On the other hand, this Friday, as he did during the first round, Trump again asked Brazilians to vote for Bolsonaro. “On Sunday, vote for President Jair Bolsonaro, he will never let you down,” wrote the Republican on the social network Truth, which he created after being banned from major platforms. “He’s a great and respected leader, and also a guy with a big heart.”
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