U.S. Envoy Victoria Nuland Goes to Brazil. Will Washington Endorse Lula?

US “Confidence” in Brazilian Electoral System Raises Suspicions

By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida
Global Research, May 06, 2022
InfoBrics
Region: ,
Theme:

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Visit and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Electoral tensions are growing in Brazil. On the one hand, Jair Bolsonaro, who began his government with a stance of automatic alignment with the US, now appears to be the candidate with the most “neutral” foreign policy agenda, while, on the other hand, Lula, who is known for having maintained a strategy of regional integration and intra-BRICS cooperation during his terms, now seems to be the option desired by the globalist and pro-Western elites. Recently, US Undersecretary of Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visited Brazil and held conferences in which she advised Brazilians to trust their own electoral system. Previously, CIA agents had already made this same statement about electoral confidence, which is supported and replicated by the Brazilian media. Considering that the hegemonic Brazilian press supports Lula, Bolsonaro’s supporters interpret this clamor for “confidence” as a sign that there will be electoral fraud.

On April 25, Victoria Nuland arrived in Brazil to participate in a business event called “U.S.-Brazil High Level Dialogue 2022: Economic Growth & Prosperity”, where the undersecretary was committed to talking to “young Brazilian entrepreneurs”.

Her aim was supposedly to align cooperation projects based on the main contemporary global demands, such as energy, sustainability, COVID-19, among others. What surprised many experts who followed the event was the fact that Nuland had published photos on her social networks with some of the supposed “young Brazilian entrepreneurs” and none of them was recognized as a prominent professional in the business area. It is speculated that the visit was intended only to establish concrete dialogues with some specific representatives of the Brazilian political elite to pressure them to serve American interests, with the event serving only as a “disguise”.

For example, recently, the Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Costa, had already claimed to have received “guidelines” from the White House, for Brazil to maximize its oil production, focusing on exports to European countries. The aim is to make the South American country an alternative to Russian oil, making Brazil an important strategic partner for the world order project desired by Washington. This seems to have been, finally, one of the points of discussion between Nuland and the Brazilians, with a clear focus on increasing the pressure for Brasília to resume a policy of automatic alignment.

However, what drew the most attention was a statement by Nuland saying that she has “confidence” in the Brazilian electoral system and affirming that Brazilians should do the same. The undersecretary stated that the US fully trusts the electronic voting system used in Brazil and that Brazilian authorities should not suspect it. Obviously, her message was indirectly addressed to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, who have repeatedly expressed their suspicions about the existence of fraud in the electronic vote counting and have tried unsuccessfully to recover the printed vote system.

It is also curious to note that Nuland’s speech was not an isolated event. CIA Director William Burns told senior Brazilian officials in late 2021 that President Jair Bolsonaro should stop doubting the country’s electoral system before the October 2022 elections, expressing full US support for the permanence of the electronic vote counting procedure. The matter becomes even more controversial when we mention the fact that electronic counting in Brazil is operated exclusively by an American company, Oracle Corporation, which has ties to the CIA according to several reports. Since 1996, when electronic voting was adopted by the Brazilian government, the Electoral Court has ensured that Oracle is the official service provider for Brasília, which explains at least in part why US authorities seem so confident in this system.

In parallel with all this, the opposition candidate, ex-president Lula, seems to be gaining more and more notoriety among Americans and Europeans. After promising the EU a participation in the “governance” of the Amazon and condemning the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine, Lula became the preferred candidate of globalist elites for this year’s electoral dispute, making the cover of Time Magazine last month. The Brazilian hegemonic media, which was enthusiastic about the American support for the electoral system and has been campaigning strongly for electronic voting, also supports Lula, who now seems to bring together all the attributes of the globalist agenda, being aligned with green capitalism and sanctions against Russia.

For Bolsonaro’s supporters, the fact that Nuland visited Brazil, refused to meet the president, and made notes about the need to trust local electoral institutions is a clear sign that there will be fraud, controlled by the American political elite – which has become an opponent of Bolsonaro since the Biden’s inauguration – for Lula to be elected. Saying this may sound exaggerated, but considering Nuland’s previous actions, being one of the responsible for mediating the coup in Kiev, having delivered 5 billion dollars to Ukrainian neo-Nazi battalions, it does not seem so far from reality.

Since 2020, everything has been reversed in the Brazilian political scenario: Lula has become an ally of international elites against BRICS partners and Bolsonaro has been forced to adopt a more neutral foreign policy due to Biden’s refusal to cooperate with him. Regardless of which side wins, tensions will continue: if Lula wins, Bolsonaro will allege fraud; if Bolsonaro wins, the global elites who support Lula will be able to try some kind of lawfare operation, considering that the Supreme and Electoral Courts also support Lula. Instability is the only certainty for the future.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share buttons above or below. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is from CADTM

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]