The is still evaluating whether it will receive the person responsible for relations with Brazil, Darren Beattie, in a meeting requested at the last minute.
The senior American official requested, through the American embassy in Brasília, a meeting with Itamaraty during its meeting that begins on Monday (16). The request, however, was made improvised, via email and WhatsApp. So far there has been no official request, which comes via a verbal note from the embassy.
According to the Brazilian government, the request came only after the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Alexandre de Moraes published a decision asking the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, for information about the existence of the American’s diplomatic agenda, to assess whether he will authorize it outside the regular visiting days, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Bolsonaro’s defense had requested that the visit to Bolsonaro take place between the 16th and 17th of March, but Moraes authorized the meeting in Papudinha for the 18th. Bolsonaro’s defense cited Beattie’s diplomatic commitments.
However, as revealed by the Sheet–but he had already sought a meeting with Bolsonaro. He applied for a visa last week to come to Brazil.
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.
In the Brazilian government, the gesture was seen as a demonstration that the purpose of Beattie’s visit is political and electoral. Beattie’s arrival is seen as the opening chapter of the attempt to interfere in the Brazilian election to favor the right-wing candidate, the senator (PL-RJ).
Beattie is part of a second echelon of the American government aligned with Bolsonarism that is actively working to undermine President Luiz Inácio da Silva’s 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 has not officially ruled out the visit, many say the chances of it still happening in March are low.
Beattie is openly critical of the Lula government and Alexandre de Moraes. He has already called Moraes “against Bolsonaro, in addition to being close to former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), who thanked him after the imposition of Magnitsky Law sanctions on Moraes.
A Sheet contacted the American embassy, which said there is no official schedule for the senior American official’s visit. His arrival is expected on Monday (16).
One of the justifications for Beattie’s visit to Brazil was participation in an event on critical minerals at Amcham (American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil), in São Paulo, on Wednesday (18). The Chamber, however, denies that he will participate.
According to sources close to former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, Beattie would come to Brazil for commitments linked to the Brazilian electoral process. His objective would be to understand how the country’s electoral system works.
According to these sources, he would have an extensive agenda with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), which from June onwards will be commanded by Bolsonaro’s nominees, with the minister.
But the TSE reported that it did not receive any request for a meeting through its international relations department and that no meeting is scheduled.
The second American echelon aligned with Bolsonarism is formed by Beattie and Ricardo Pita, senior advisor for Western Hemisphere affairs at the State Department, in addition to Sebastian Gorka, at the White House.
Pita was in Brazil in May last year and met with senator Flávio Bolsonaro and other Bolsonaro supporters.
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 and Trump’s tariffs, alongside Beattie and Pita.
As a UOL report showed, the CV and PCC 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.
