Brazil investigates possible US interference in presidential elections

The Federal Police of Brazil has opened an investigation into possible interference by the United States in the presidential elections. It was announced by its general director, Andrei Rodrigues, this Sunday, on election day, while almost 159 million Brazilians were called to the polls to choose between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Flávio Bolsonaro and the rest of the candidates.

«It is an ongoing investigation, a preliminary procedure. The resolution of the summary has not been published, but we already have an investigation underway,” Rodrigues told journalists during a visit to the headquarters of the Federal Highway Police in Brasilia. From there, the security forces supervise the electoral day arrangements.

The investigation responds to a complaint from the State Attorney General's Office (AGU), presented this week to the Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office. The Police have referred it to its Intelligence Directorate "to begin the investigations," according to its director.

One million dollars against lawfare

The origin of the case is information published on October 1 by the British newspaper The Guardian, which has had a great impact in Brazil. According to the newspaper, the State Department diverted one million dollars from its Human Rights and Democracy Fund to a program titled "Fighting lawfare and censorship in Brazil." The money would be destined to support civil society groups that oppose what Washington considers excesses and censorship of the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

The Brazilian game is part of a broader package. According to The Guardian, there are almost 177 million dollars distributed among 43 projects, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, personally authorized its release on September 30, despite the blockade imposed by the US Congress. Among those opposed was Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who questioned the use of public funds to support the far right.

In its letter, the Brazilian Government maintains that these funds would have been used to finance networks and organizations in Brazil in order to interfere in the political debate and "destabilize and attack the institutionality of the Brazilian Judiciary."

The Supreme Court, at the center of the campaign

The complaint touches the most sensitive point of the campaign. The STF and the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) enter these elections with their credibility greatly eroded. Flávio Bolsonaro has been accusing both courts of favoring Lula for months. It was the STF that sentenced his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, to 27 years and three months in prison for leading an attempted coup d'état.

If the election reaches a very close second round, on October 25, as the polls anticipate, or if there are challenges, it will be those same courts that will have to arbitrate.