This alert is produced by AFGJ and the Eco-Solidarity Project
Send an email to Brazil’s President Lula and the WTO – Stand strong for sovereignty and democracy
Send an email to President Trump—Hands Off Brazil!
The Trump administration is pulling out all stops to directly interfere in the judicial and electoral processes of Brazil and other countries in South America. The US is imposing sanctions and a 50% tariff in order to disrupt the nation’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and other plotters of the attempted coup of January 8, 2023. Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, has abandoned Brazil where he is supposed to be representing constituents in the congress. He moved to Florida in March, citing fears of arrest, although there were no actual charges against him. On Wednesday, August 13, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent canceled a meeting with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in order to discuss new sanctions with the younger Bolsonaro.
However, the plan may be backfiring. President of Brazil Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva’s popularity has risen sharply as he leads the resistance to US interference. Brazil is one of the world’s leading nations for industrial output and is linked through BRICS with similarly powerful allies, including China, which leads the world in manufacturing. Brazil’s resistance to this interference is important for all the Americas, including the US. Upcoming elections in the hemisphere in 2026 could serve to consolidate or rebuff the advances of fascism and the US Empire. We must show our solidarity with Brazil because they are leading a defense of democracy that impacts all of us.
For more information
From Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela on the Front Lines Against Fascism (published by the Orinoco Tribune)
… The growth of fascism in the Americas is in no small part a product of extreme right-wing internationalism. Fascists understand the value of solidarity where the broad US Left often fails. In South America, the US is pursuing policies to directly violate national sovereignty and disrupt the juridical and electoral affairs of targeted countries.
Currently, Brazil is in the front line of conflict along with Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru in a struggle that is heating up in advance of major 2026 elections in South America (Brazil, Colombia, Peru) as well as the United States. These contests could, to varying degrees, be a repudiation or a consolidation of fascism in the hemisphere. Brazil is being targeted in groundbreaking ways by the US Empire and the regime of President Donald Trump. Trump’s actions are in solidarity with his close friend and ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro. However, Brazil, which has the largest economy in Latin America, is uniquely situated to resist. By standing up to the threats against it, Brazil is taking a bold step forward to open new bases of power in a multi-polar world. If Brazil wins this struggle, we all win….
The 50% tariffs recently imposed by President Donald Trump against Brazil constitute direct interference in the nation’s sovereign judicial and electoral affairs. In Brazil’s case, we find an anti-fascist struggle taking place that is international in scope and that may just have the resources and the wherewithal to challenge the threats against it.
The tariffs imposed on Brazil are a response to Brazil’s internal investigations and court cases against former President Jair Bolsonaro and his associates for their involvement in a coup plot against the incoming administration. Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest because of violations of restraining orders put in place during the trial. Bolsonaro is a close friend and political ally to Trump. The US president has imposed the tariffs in retaliation for what he deems Bolsonaro’s unfair treatment. Bolsonaro is facing charges stemming from the January 8, 2023, coup attempt against the incoming presidency of Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva, a year and two days following the events of January 6, 2021 in Washington DC, when Trump followers attempted to block the transfer of power to Joe Biden….
These tariffs imposed on Brazil have nothing to do with trade policy and are therefore a blatant and unprecedented violation of national sovereignty. The US intervention may have backfired, though. Even some from the Center-Right find their national pride offended, and Lula has suddenly bounced back from previously low approval ratings. Trump recently invited Lula to call him to discuss the sanctions, to which Lula responded, “I won’t call Trump. He doesn’t want to talk.” Rather, Lula reached out to his BRICS partners Narenda Modi in India and Xi Jinping in China. According to World Population Review, Brazil is number 10 in manufacturing output, India is number five, and at the top spot is China, which accounts for about 18% of global output, versus 9.5% for number two, the USA.
Lula explained further, that, “Brazil today is not as dependent on the United States as it once was. I won’t disregard the importance of our diplomatic relationship with the US. But from now on, they need to know that we have things to negotiate. We have size, we have a stance, we have economic and political interests to bring to the table.”
Lula has called for consultation over the tariffs with the World Trade Organization….
The Trump administration and congressional leaders are threatening similar actions towards Colombia, where another Trump friend and ally, former president, death squad leader, and narcotrafficker Álvaro Uribe has been tried and sentenced to 12 years house arrest for fraud and witness tampering.
However, the situation is more precarious for this country, long regarded as the US top ally in the region, and which in so many ways can be rightly described as a military colony of the US Southern Command (SouthComm). Likewise, Trade with the United States is at 34% making the US Colombia’s largest international trade partner.
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