
AI-generated summary
Brazil's Attorney General Jorge Messias has warned against US interference in Brazilian institutions after reports that $1 million from a US State Department fund was earmarked for critics of the Supreme Court. The warning comes shortly before the presidential election in Brazil.
A report on US funding for critics of the Brazilian Supreme Court is causing a stir shortly before the presidential election. The government's attorney general warns against foreign influence.
Brazil's Attorney General Jorge Messias has warned against US interference in Brazilian institutions. (Archive image) Photo: Andre Penner/AP/dpa
Brasilia. Brazil's Attorney General Jorge Messias has warned against US interference in Brazilian institutions following a report on planned US funding for critics of the Supreme Court. The report is an important warning signal for Brazilian sovereignty, said Messias on Platform X. The presidential election will take place in the largest country in Latin America on Sunday.
One million dollars for justice critics
According to research by the British newspaper The Guardian, $1 million from a US State Department fund will be earmarked for a program called “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil.” The money is intended to finance civil society groups that accuse the Brazilian Supreme Court of exceeding its powers and of censorship. It is unclear whether the money has already been transferred or whether it has just been tied up in budgetary terms.
“This information is particularly worrying given the Brazilian electoral process and recent incidents in which external pressure has been exerted on our institutions,” Messias wrote. It should not be accepted that “foreign political interests attempt to intervene in the functioning of Brazilian institutions or to influence, directly or indirectly, the decisions that belong exclusively to the Brazilian people.”
The government's Attorney General's Office, headed by Messias, therefore asked the police and public prosecutor's office to investigate possible recipients of the funds, as the Agência Brasil news agency reported.
The Supreme Court has recently been at the center of social debate - for example in connection with one of the country's largest financial fraud cases, in which possible connections to a judge of the court are also being publicly discussed.
Worry about influence
The Brazilian government has seen the danger of foreign influence in the presidential election for some time. According to Agência Brasil, the Brazilian secret service Abin pointed out a risk from the USA and increasing pressure on Brazil in a report prepared at the end of August.
The latest polls show incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro - son of former President Jair Bolsonaro - almost neck-to-neck and well ahead of the other candidates. A runoff election is considered likely.
US President Donald Trump is considered a supporter of Jair Bolsonaro. The former head of state, who ruled between 2019 and 2022, was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for his involvement in an attempted coup. For health reasons, the ex-military man is currently serving his sentence under house arrest.
Published according to the editorial standards of the Handelsblatt. You can find more information in our guidelines.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
There will be an official investigation by police and prosecutors into possible recipients of the US funds.
Likely · Within days

A tanker came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire while the crew was evacuated to safety. At the same time, tensions in Yemen are escalating with explosions in Sanaa, Iran is threatening attacks on energy infrastructure and rejecting diplomatic offers, while the US maintains its naval blockade and Trump expects further talks with Tehran.
According to British reports, a tanker was hit by an unknown missile in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew is safe, the damage is still unknown. The incident comes in the context of the Iran War, in which Iran has claimed control of the strait and the US has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, leading to rising oil prices.
After the alleged attempted attack on a US military base in Fairford, Great Britain, authorities have arrested a sixth suspect - a 25-year-old man with British and Iranian citizenship from London. Police had previously temporarily arrested five suspects after three white vans were spotted at the base. According to British media, the material carried did not turn out to be a functional explosive. Prime Minister Andy Burnham hinted at Iranian involvement, while Israel claims it warned of such an attack weeks ago.
According to the British shipping authority UKMTO, a tanker came under fire while passing through the Strait of Hormuz and a fire broke out. The crew is safe. The incident occurred on Thursday evening and no one has reported the attack so far. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical sea route for global trade in oil, gas and fertilizer.
During the ongoing school protests in France, 1,949 people were arrested, most of them on allegations of violence. 305 police and gendarmes were injured, over 400 schools remain closed and only offer distance learning. The protests are directed against dilapidated school buildings, overcrowded classes and a lack of staff.
Ethiopia and Eritrea have broken off diplomatic relations and mutually announced the closure of their embassies. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which launched an offensive in northern Ethiopia in September. The conflict is reminiscent of the civil war from 2020 to 2022, in which around 600,000 people died.