Brazil attorney general says meddling ‘cannot be tolerated’ after Trump funding plans revealed

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (esquerda) enfrenta na eleição presidencial o de extrema-direita Flávio Bolsonaro, aliado de Donald Trump (direita). Composite: AFP, Getty Images.

Composite: AFP, Getty ImagesBrazilBrazil attorney general says meddling ‘cannot be tolerated’ after Trump funding plans revealedJorge Messias calls Guardian report ‘an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty’ as nation prepares to go to polls.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleBrazil’s attorney general has said foreign meddling in his country’s institutions and democracy “cannot be tolerated” after a Guardian report revealed how the Trump administration was pushing to direct funds to a campaign against the Brazilian supreme court.

Writing on X, Jorge Messias called the report “an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty”. “The information is especially serious in light of Brazil’s electoral process and the recent episodes of external pressure on our institutions,” Messias added.

Brazil is three days away from its presidential election – the outcome of which Washington has been accused of trying to influence – where the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will face off against his far-right rival, the Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro.

Os dois estão em pé de igualdade nas pesquisas.

De acordo com a rede de televisão brasileira GloboNews, o Ministério Público entrou na quinta‑feira com uma denúncia criminal para investigar possíveis irregularidades, em resposta à matéria do Guardian.

Last year, the Trump administration used a campaign of sanctions and tariffs in a failed attempt to pressure Lula’s government and the supreme court over the coup trial of Bolsonaro’s father, the ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump called Bolsonaro’s prosecution a “witch-hunt”, but he was convicted and handed a 27-year sentence for trying to seize power after losing the 2022 election to Lula.

3:43How Trump is meddling in Brazil’s election – explainerIn recent months, the Trump administration has again been accused of meddling in Brazilian affairs by using tariffs and the designation of two Brazilian organised crime groups as foreign terrorist organisations to boost Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign and weaken Lula.

Escrevendo na quinta‑feira, Messias disse: “Desacordos entre governos são inerentes às relações internacionais. O que não pode ser tolerado é que interesses políticos estrangeiros busquem interferir no funcionamento das instituições brasileiras ou influenciar, direta ou indiretamente, escolhas que pertencem exclusivamente ao povo brasileiro.”.

Messias added: “It is the right of each generation of Brazilians to freely decide their destiny, protect their institutions, and hand over to their children a country that does not accept decisions about Brazil being made outside of Brazil.

Our democracy belongs to Brazilians. And so it must remain.”.

Bolsonaro’s far-right movement considers the supreme court – and in particular justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Jair Bolsonaro’s trial – its greatest foe.

Moraes é amplamente visto como tendo desempenhado um papel fundamental em impedir o plano autoritário de Jair Bolsonaro, que culminou nos tumultos de 8 de janeiro de 2023 em Brasília, apesar das preocupações de que o juiz tenha ultrapassado sua autoridade constitucional em sua cruzada para proteger a democracia.

0:49Brazil’s presidential palace left in ruins after Bolsonaro’s supporters storm the building – videoBolsonaro supporters continue to claim their leader’s imprisonment is unjust and that he is the victim of a politically motivated sham driven by a corrupt “judicial dictatorship”.

Their criticism of Moraes and the supreme court has been bolstered by a recent scandal linking several judges, including him, to Daniel Vorcaro, the playboy banker at the centre of Brazil’s biggest banking scandal.

Vorcaro has also been linked to the Bolsonaro family.

O banqueiro supostamente deu à família mais de £9 milhões, supostamente para produzir uma biografia cinematográfica sobre Jair Bolsonaro estrelada por Jim Caviezel, que interpretou Jesus no filme de Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ.

On the eve of Vorcaro’s arrest last November, Flávio Bolsonaro messaged him to say: “Brother, I’ll always be with you.”.

Vorcaro is being held in federal police custody in Brasília. His legal team has consistently denied wrongdoing. On Wednesday, his lawyers said he was not involved in “any kind of illicit activity or criminal practice”.

Em números

• O banqueiro supostamente deu à família mais de £9 milhões, supostamente para produzir uma biografia cinemat