00:01With Brazil's presidential elections less than two months away, the United States government
00:06is intensifying its efforts to destabilize the Lula administration.
00:11Our correspondent Ryan Meir has more details.
00:15Since Donald Trump took office, politicians with close ties to the international far-right
00:19have won controversial elections in country after country in Latin America.
00:23With elections only a few weeks off in Brazil, the Trump administration is working to bolster
00:28far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro by destabilizing the Lula administration with the hopes that
00:34one of the last progressive governments in South America will fall this year.
00:38For the first time in 15, 20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western Hemisphere
00:43are now led by pro-American leaders and pro-American governments.
00:48It's an extraordinary achievement, all of it happening through a success.
00:51Virtually every election that's happened in the Western Hemisphere since you were elected
00:54president has elected someone who is pro-American.
00:56And I think this is an incredible situation.
01:00The U.S. has imposed new tariffs on Brazilian imports.
01:03It's removed Brazil from its friendly nations list.
01:05It tried to send inspectors to delegitimize Brazil's electronic voting system and held workshops
01:10for Brazilian far-right influencers to teach strategies for attacking the Lula administration.
01:16Meanwhile, Republicans like Congressman Carlos Jimenez have posted disinformation about Brazil
01:21and AI-generated memes encouraging a Maduro-style kidnapping of President Lula on social media.
01:27Today, especially with Marco Rubio in the Department of State, the government of the United States
01:33has become an activist for the international far-right here in Latin America.
01:37Now the Trump administration has canceled the visa of Brazil's ambassador to the U.S.,
01:42calling it reciprocity for Brazil's refusal to fast-track authorization of Trump's ambassador
01:48nominee to Brazil, Daniel Perez, demonstrating a complete lack of regard for or ignorance of the Vienna Convention,
01:55of which the U.S. and Brazil are both signatories, and its diplomatic protocols.
02:02They proceeded with a confirmation procedure in the U.S. Senate without a Brazilian agreement.
02:07This behavior is totally contrary to international law.
02:11This is curious as well because I don't think that these things should be seen as isolated incidents.
02:17This didn't happen randomly.
02:19The U.S. went for over a year and a half without nominating an ambassador to Brazil.
02:23When the Biden administration stepped down, their ambassador went home, and for a year and
02:28a half, it seemed like Brazil had no importance to the U.S.
02:31Suddenly, as the elections approached, they moved hurriedly to try to appoint an ambassador
02:36without our consent.
02:39Brazil's elections will take place on October 4th.
02:42Brian Meir, Telesur, Recife.
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