Sanders urges US to break ties with Brazil if Bolsonaro disrespects the elections
Press release WBO 12th August 2022
US Senator presents a motion in defense of Brazilian democracy and respect for the results of the polls, whoever the winner is
The initiative was announced days after a visit by a civil society delegation to Washington, organized by the WBO
US Senator Bernie Sanders welcomes part of the delegation of 19 representatives from Brazilian organizations who were in Washington at the end of July 2022 to talk about threats to democracy and the electoral process. Credit: Maria Magdalena Arréllaga/WBO
Bernie Sanders, a Democratic senator from the state of Vermont, announced this Thursday (11) that he will present a motion in the US Senate in defense of democracy and respect for the Brazilian electoral process, as soon as congressmen return from recess, in August. The initiative is the result of a meeting that Sanders had with 19 representatives of Brazilian civil society organizations on July 26, at the Capitol, in Washington, on a trip organized by the WBO (Washington Brazil Office).
Sanders' motion calls for the US government to sever relations with the Brazilian government if President Jair Bolsonaro carries out the threats he has publicly made not to respect the results of the polls in the October presidential election. “It would be unacceptable for the US to recognize and work with a government that actually lost the election. That would be a disaster for the Brazilian people and send a disastrous message to the whole world about the strength of democracy,” the senator told Politico.
The instrument used for this purpose is what is called in the US the “sense of Senate”, a motion in which the US Senate expresses its position on a relevant issue. This type of motion does not have the force of law, but it has the ability to influence government decision-making in its actions. In practice, Sanders' office will strive to collect as many signatures as possible in support of the motion, which is usually accepted by acclamation.
Sanders is one of the US congressmen who received a delegation of representatives of Brazilian civil society who were in Washington from July 24 to 29, alerting local stakeholders to the threats to democracy and the electoral process in Brazil. In addition to him, Representatives Jamie Raskin (Maryland, a member of the commission investigating 6/1), Hank Johnson (Georgia), Mark Takano (California) and Sheila Cherfilus McCormick (Florida), as well as Senators Patrick Leahy (Vermont, Senate President) and Ben Cardin (Maryland).
The delegation presented its interlocutors – which also included the US State Department and local civil society organizations – two requests:
That these American interlocutors inform themselves about the situation in Brazil, where the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, calls into question the electoral system and the results of the polls, attacking the independence of the Powers, through actions directed against the Justice Electoral Court and the Federal Supreme Court; and
That these same American interlocutors manifest themselves, within their areas of action and influence, recognizing the reliability of the Brazilian electoral system and the validity of the election result, whoever the winner is, in October 2022
At the meeting on July 26, Sanders stated, “What I heard [from the delegation] unfortunately sounds all too familiar to me because of the efforts of [Donald] Trump and his friends to undermine American democracy. I'm not surprised that Bolsonaro is trying to do the same in Brazil. We really hope that the result of the [Brazilian] elections will be recognized and respected, and that democracy will, in fact, prevail in Brazil.”
Another concrete result of the delegation’s visit to Washington was the publication, by the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) of the OAS (Organization of American States) of a press release urging Brazil to “prevent violence, guaranteeing measures of protection and security in the electoral context, as well as carrying out investigations related to these facts”. The note cites facts that were reported to the IACHR by the Brazilian delegation, such as the murder of PT member Marcelo Aloízio de Arruda by the Bolsonarista militant José da Rocha Garanho, in Foz do Iguaçu, on July 9, in addition to drone attacks and homemade bombs in acts PT politicians.
The document also says that “although the Inter-American Commission highlights the strength of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Brazil, it urges the country’s high authorities and all political leaders not to make statements that may promote intolerance, discrimination, deliberate or deliberate disinformation. hatred".
The trip of the Brazilian delegation was organized by the WBO (Washington Brazil Office), in partnership with WOLA (Washington Office On Latin America), the Atlantic Council, the CEPR (Center for Economic and Policy Research), Amazon Watch and Action for Democracy.
The WBO is an independent and non-partisan think tank that specializes in promoting cooperation and knowledge about the Brazilian reality and offering support to the international work of civil society, social movements and other sectors of Brazil in Washington, in defense of democracy, human rights, the environment and freedoms.
Final statement from the delegation
“We, from the delegation of representatives of 19 Brazilian civil society organizations, who were in Washington, between July 24 and 29, 2022, to discuss the attacks on democracy in Brazil in the US, consider that the trip achieved the objective of informing some of the most prominent and influential actors in American politics about the delicate moment that Brazilian democracy is going through.
In over 20 meetings held over these five days, we were received with deference and listened to with genuine attention from all the relevant actors we sought to find. We could see that today, in the US – as we are certain there are in other parts of the world as well – special attention is paid to the political moment that Brazil is going through.
We were able to understand that the course of a country of continental dimensions, with a population of more than 212 million inhabitants, reserve of an environmental and cultural heritage of global importance, which occupies a prominent place in the world economy, is a subject that has implications that overflow our borders. The Brazilian election is undoubtedly, above all, a Brazilian matter – and this message was reinforced by the delegation and corroborated by the American interlocutors themselves, in Washington – but the solidity of Brazilian democracy, respect for human rights and individual freedoms, the rule of law and the environment, Indigenous people and the Black population, are matters that concern the very idea of humanity and, as such, attract legitimate attention and concern in a world of interconnected and interdependent relationships. Informing these interlocutors about the Brazilian reality was, therefore, one of the priorities of the delegation.
From the Capitol to the Department of State, from the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) to the television studios in Washington, passing through the headquarters of local social and union organizations, the delegation always found an interested welcome and a solidary look at the moment that Brazil is crossing. In all these meetings, the delegation exhaustively repeated two messages: inform yourself about the ongoing attacks against the Brazilian electoral system and quickly recognize the result that comes out of the polls in October, whoever the winner is, to reinforce the voice of the international community and, as a result, make it impossible to implement the coup threats that have been publicly made over the last few years.
At all times, we find attentive and concerned listening. At various times, we immediately received public demonstrations in support of Brazilian democracy, as in the cases of the statements of Senator Bernie Sanders and Deputy Jamie Raskin, whose words achieved great public repercussion in Brazil.
We returned to Brazil with the certainty that our efforts helped to better inform the international community – in this specific case, the USA, whose government, through several of its bodies, has already publicly positioned itself in defense of democracy in Brazil –, and we believe that the existence of this diverse and united Brazilian delegation played a fundamental role in the challenge of preserving, protecting and improving Brazilian democracy.”
Organizations that make up the delegation, in alphabetical order:
ABGLT (Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis, Transexuais e Intersexos)
APIB (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil)
Artigo 19
Comissão Arns
CONAQ (Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas)
Conectas Direitos Humanos
Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra
Greenpeace Brasil
Grupo Prerrogativas
Instituto Clima e Sociedade
Instituto Marielle Franco
Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum
Instituto Vladimir Herzog
Pacto pela Democracia
Transparência Internacional Brasil
Uneafro
Voz das Comunidades
342 Artes/342 Amazonia
NAVE
Washington Brazil Office
