Brasilia, Dec.—The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva considers today that the institutional relationship with the United States does not eliminate the risk of possible interference by Washington in Brazil's 2026 electoral process.
According to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, members of the Palácio do Planalto (the seat of the Executive Branch) believe that the recent measures of détente do not necessarily imply a structural change in the White House's foreign policy.
The Republican Donald Trump, President of the United States, adopted a pragmatic strategy toward Latin American countries, combining political pressure and economic incentives according to his electoral and ideological interests, sources report.
They indicate that a senior official in Lula's administration specified that the partial removal of tariffs on Brazilian products and the lifting of sanctions under the Magnitsky Act (a U.S. law that allows the country to impose economic sanctions on those accused of corruption) could have represented only a tactical maneuver.
The internal perception is that these decisions were made following the failed attempt to prevent the detention of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted and imprisoned as a coup plotter, and do not guarantee future neutrality from Washington.
The Brazilian government is closely monitoring recent precedents. In Argentina, during the legislative elections, Trump conditioned the delivery of a financial aid package estimated at 20 billion dollars on the electoral performance of President Javier Milei's party.
Also in Honduras, the then-explicit support of the Republican magnate for the far-right candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura generated a strong reaction from the local government.
The Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, who has a progressive inclination, even stated that the country was facing an "electoral coup" due to the "interference of the President of the United States."
Before the elections, Trump declared that the official candidate, Rixi Moncada, was a communist and that a possible victory would mean handing the country over to the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his "narco-terrorists."
The issue of drug trafficking has been used by the billionaire as an argument for actions in the Caribbean and military threats against Venezuela.
The cooperation would also have served, preventively, to neutralize the attempts of Bolsonaro's groups to seek external support under the pretext of combating organized crime in Brazil.
For Lula's government, international policy will have unprecedented weight in the 2026 presidential elections, and Trump is expected to openly support the Brazilian right-wing candidate, who is more ideologically aligned with the White House.
(Taken from Prensa Latina)
