US Officials Accused of Interfering in Brazil’s 2026 Presidential Election

In the run-up to Brazil’s October 2026 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been accused of a coordinated campaign to tilt the race toward far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The alleged tactics include imposing a 25 % tariff on most Brazilian imports, designating the country’s two largest criminal syndicates—the Red Command (Comando Vermelho) in Rio de Janeiro and the First Command of the Capital (Primeiro Comando da Capital) in São Paulo—as foreign terrorist organizations, and denying entry visas to two Trump-appointed officials who were reportedly planning to meet Bolsonaro. Brazil’s ambassador to Washington subsequently had his visa revoked.

The GuardianData Centers, Reviled in the US, Win Support in Brazil’s Presidential Election

U.S. interference in Brazilian politics dates to the early 1960s. Historians note that the Kennedy administration covertly funneled millions of dollars to opposition candidates and to groups such as the Brazilian Institute for Democratic Action and the Research and Social Studies Institute to undermine President João Goulart. Those efforts helped set the stage for the 1964 military coup that ushered in two decades of authoritarian rule.

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• The U.S.

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• The United States announced the 25 % tariff and the terrorist-designations as part of a broader “economic and diplomatic pressure” strategy aimed at President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration.

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• President Lula publicly claimed that two Trump officials were denied visas because they intended “to meddle in Brazil’s elections” and that the pair planned to meet Flávio Bolsonaro to sow doubt about the country’s voting system.

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• Chico Rubens Paiva – political activist and grandson of a congressman who investigated U.S. meddling in 1963 – described the current actions as “very heavy-handed intervention” by the United States.

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• Celso Rocha de Barros – political scientist – expressed bewilderment that the alleged U.S. interference is receiving limited coverage in mainstream media, calling it “the election’s most urgent theme.”

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• Tariff: 25 % on most Brazilian imports (announced July 2026).

Data Centers, Reviled in the US, Win Support in Brazil’s Presidential Election

• Terrorist designations: Rio’s Red Command and São Paulo’s First Command of the Capital labeled foreign terrorist organizations.

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• Legal context: Former President Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio’s father, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a military coup.

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• U.S. position: The State Department characterizes the allegations as unfounded.

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• Brazilian position: Multiple Brazilian officials, including President Lula and political analysts, assert that the tariff and designations are intended to weaken Lula’s government and boost Bolsonaro’s candidacy.

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• No independent verification of the alleged meeting between Rubio and Flávio Bolsonaro has been provided, leaving a factual gap regarding the coordination of the purported campaign.

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• “There was a very heavy-handed intervention here by the US government,” — Chico Rubens Paiva

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• “Any kind of change to the algorithm has a brutal impact in the way information reaches people,” — Chico Rubens Paiva

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These statements illustrate the stark contrast between U.S. official denials and the perception of heavy-handed interference voiced by Brazilian critics.

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