US congresswoman sees Trump's attempt to interfere in Brazil's election

This is the position of Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who has just led an initiative to send a letter from the American Congress to the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, contesting the "Donroe Doctrine", Trump's version of the Monroe Doctrine, which foresees Washington's hegemony in the Western Hemisphere.

Speaking to journalists in early August, a State Department representative stated that the American government will respect the outcome of the election, but added the expression "free and fair elections", often used to question the legitimacy of the vote.

"We respect the Brazilian people and any government they freely choose through free and fair elections in Brazil," the American official said.

Jayapal tells Folha that there are attempts to influence the Brazilian elections. "This is a strategy similar to what the Trump administration used even in the USA: questioning electronic voting machines and electoral security as a way of delegitimizing legitimate democratic elections."

Trump and his supporters claim that the 2020 American elections, in which the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden, were rigged. The false statements led to the attacks on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

"The ways in which Trump tries to influence the Brazilian elections, whether through tariffs or through his support [for one of the candidates] are not common. It has become common under this Trump administration, but it is not normal for the US president to actively interfere in elections or support candidates from other countries. I find this very worrying," said Jayapal.

In 2022, the Joe Biden government played an important role in promptly recognizing the result of the Brazilian election, amid questions from the then president, Jair Bolsonaro. Before the election, the US sent National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Brasília to reaffirm the American government's confidence in the Brazilian electoral system, and signaled that they could cut off military cooperation if the Brazilian Armed Forces interfered.

This time, the US attempted to send State Department officials to Brazil to question the integrity of the Brazilian electoral system, according to the Washington Post. The employees had visa applications denied by Itamaraty.

"We are concerned. We work closely with the Biden administration, which respected the will of Brazilian voters," said Jayapal.

"This time, we will do everything we can, everything in our power, to ensure that the election results are respected - particularly if we control the House. We're watching everything very closely and trying to do everything we can to help make sure the U.S. doesn't interfere."

Research suggests that Democrats could win a majority in the House in the midterm elections, which will take place in November. While they are in the minority in Congress, however, there are limitations to what they can do.

The congresswoman, a member of the Chamber's Foreign Relations committee, is in Montevideo participating in the Pan-American Congress of progressive legislators, with seven other Democratic congressmen, and deputies from 15 countries in the region. One of the main themes of the congress is Trump's so-called Donroe Doctrine for hegemony in Latin America.

In the letter addressed to the Secretary of State, Jayapal and other Democratic deputies state that "interventions carried out under the banner of the Donroe Doctrine appear to follow a partisan playbook: support for preferred candidates, the appointment of political allies, the use of tariffs and sanctions as weapons and, when these measures fail, the direct use of military force." "These are tactics that destabilize our hemisphere and put our neighbors at risk," he says.

For Jayapal, the Donroe Doctrine harms American interests in the region.

"If a US president can simply impose a tariff unilaterally because he wants a certain country to do something, without authorization from Congress and contrary to our laws - as our Supreme Court concluded in some of the tariff cases that came before it in the US -, this weakens stability in the region, harms relations and trust between our countries and causes nations like Brazil to turn to China and other countries," she said. "I think this is bad for our bilateral relationship. I also think it's bad for the American people."

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