With , the government’s special envoy for relations with the country, Darren Beattie, did not ask to meet with anyone from Itamaraty or Planalto, but has already sought an agenda for one, after the former president’s defense requested authorization.
It would be diplomatic practice for, on an official visit, a senior official from the US State Department to request a meeting with an official from Itamaraty, the equivalent body in Brazil. It would also have been expected that he would ask to meet with an authority from Planalto’s international relations department, which did not happen. According to Sheet found out, he also did not ask for meetings at the Ministry of Justice or the Treasury.
Beattie is part of a second echelon of the American government aligned with Bolsonarism that actively works to undermine the president’s (PT) visit to Trump. The visit was mentioned by the Brazilian government for the first time in October last year, after the tariff truce, and was expected for 2025. After some postponements, it was scheduled for March, but has not yet been confirmed.
Although the Lula government is not officially throwing in the towel, many say the chances of the visit still happening in March are low.
For the Brazilian government, the fact that Beattie has not, until now, requested meetings at Planalto and Itamaraty, but has already sought to facilitate a meeting with Bolsonaro, shows that the purpose of Beattie’s visit is political and electoral. Beattie’s arrival is seen as favoring Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ).
Beattie is openly critical of the Lula government and the minister of the (Federal Supreme Court). He has already called the minister “against Bolsonaro, in addition to being close to the former deputy (PL-SP), who thanked him after the imposition of Magnitsky Law sanctions on Moraes.
A Sheet contacted the American embassy, but was informed that there is still no official schedule for the visit of the senior American official. His arrival is expected on Monday, March 16th.
Beattie would come to Brazil with the aim of understanding how the Brazilian electoral system works. It will also deal with court decisions that determined the blocking of profiles on social networks as part of inquiries into fake news and digital militias conducted by the Supreme Court.
He must still have a broad agenda with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), which from June onwards will be commanded by Bolsonaro’s nominees, with the minister.
In São Paulo, he participates in a seminar on critical minerals organized by Amcham on Wednesday (18).
This second echelon is made up of Beattie and Ricardo Pita, senior advisor for Western Hemisphere affairs at the State Department, in addition to Sebastian Gorka, at the White House.
Gorka is senior director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council and deputy assistant to the president. He is one of the great defenders of Trump’s tariff and the idea of designating the PCC and the CV as terrorist organizations, alongside Beattie and Pita.
Gorka has been close to Bolsonarism for more than a decade. He was present at the screening of the documentary about Olavo de Carvalho at the Trump hotel, in 2016, at an event promoted by Steve Bannon and Eduardo Bolsonaro on the sidelines of Bolsonaro’s visit to Trump in his first term.
As a UOL report showed, the CV (Comando Vermelho) and PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) factions are expected to be declared terrorist organizations in the coming days, a decision that goes against the efforts of the Brazilian government.
The Lula government delivered a proposal to combat organized crime at the end of last year to the State Department. However, according to sources close to the organization, the plan was considered inadequate because, among other reasons, it did not contain the declaration of factions as terrorist groups.
In the Brazilian government’s view, the timing of the insistence on announcing the designation is symptomatic of the attempts of this second echelon to undermine relations between Trump and Lula.
There are two other themes that should appear during this year’s electoral campaign and will also be used to harm Lula’s candidacy, in the view of government officials.
One is the Section 301 investigation by the Office of the White House Trade Representative, opened on July 15 of last year. The investigation targets digital commerce and electronic payment services; “unfair and preferential” tariffs; anti-corruption laws; protection of intellectual property; access to the ethanol market; and illegal deforestation. Sanctions could be announced in the coming months, and could have strategic timing during the election campaign. Although, in this case, the idea could backfire – Lula gained popularity in his resistance to Trump’s tariffs last year.
Another front is the defense of American big tech in the face of decisions by the Federal Supreme Court and possible sanctions by the TSE during the campaign, using the motto of “freedom of expression”.
