Brazil’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, said foreign meddling in the country’s institutions and democracy cannot be tolerated after a Guardian report revealed the Trump administration’s plans to channel more than $175 million of the U.S. State Department’s human‑rights fund toward a campaign against Brazil’s Supreme Court. Messias posted on X that the report was an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty.
The comment comes as Brazil heads into a presidential election three days away, in which left‑wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces far‑right rival Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has been accused of attempting to influence the outcome, and the attorney general’s office has filed a criminal complaint to investigate possible wrongdoing after the Guardian story.
The Trump administration allegedly sought to direct the fund to a slate of awards, including a $40 million grant for an anti‑communism fund, support for a group promoting white Afrikaner rights in South Africa, and a $1 million award titled “Countering lawfare and censorship in Brazil” that would fund civil‑society groups opposing what they call judicial overreach by the Supreme Court. The administration has also used tariffs and the designation of two Brazilian organized‑crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations to bolster Bolsonaro’s campaign and weaken Lula’s government.
Bolsonaro’s movement views the Supreme Court, particularly Justice Alexandre de Moraes, as its greatest foe. Moraes, who oversaw the 2023 trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, played a key role in thwarting the former president’s alleged authoritarian plot that culminated in January 2023 riots. Bolsonaro supporters continue to claim the former president’s imprisonment is politically motivated, a view that has been amplified by a recent scandal linking several judges, including Moraes, to banker Daniel Vorcaro, who was arrested for alleged involvement in Brazil’s largest banking scandal.
