Bolsonaro summons foreign ambassadors to speak out against electronic voting machines on Monday

Brasilia – President Jair Bolsonaro Scheduled for next Monday afternoon, 18, a meeting with foreign ambassadors To raise doubts about the safety Brazilian electoral process. The invitation of the main names of the diplomatic corps accredited in Brasilia began on Thursday the fifteenth.

The initiative came from Palácio do Planalto, not from Itamaraty. Bolsonaro’s invitation, signed by the ceremonial Presidency of the Republic, omits the subject of the meeting. “I have been commissioned to invite Your Excellency to the meeting of the President of the Republic with the heads of diplomatic missions to be held at 4 pm on July 18, 2022, in Palacio da Alvorada,” this invitation states. Advisor Carlos França must participate.

But the ambassadors already know Bolsonaro’s intentions. The president had announced last week that he would summon the ambassadors to try to convince them of his theses on Electronic voting machines. The meeting will serve as a counterpoint between the decision of the President and the Minister Edson Fashion, Head of the Electoral Justice, on expanding the presence of foreign missions as observers of the general elections, contrary to Planalto’s wish. And the lectures of Fashin himself and Minister LamWhiskey Roberto Barroso Abroad, where they warned of the dangers of democratic rupture in Brazil.

Representatives from European countries confirmed their presence, including ambassadors from France, Portugal and Switzerland. Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States should also send their representatives to Alvorada. Ambassadors should not speak during or after the meeting.

South American countries, such as Colombia and Ecuador, whose right-wing government aligns with Bolsonaro’s, were also invited. Diplomats from neighboring, left-ruled countries, such as Chile and Argentina, said they had not yet received an invitation.

In private, the ambassadors admit to the strangeness of the president’s plan to denounce alleged fraud in previous elections, which was never proven, and to criticize the use of the voting system under which he was elected has internationally recognized security mechanisms.

They say, however, that it was equally unusual for them to be called by Supreme Electoral Court (Tokyo Stock Exchange) for an election hearing in May. Because they went to meet Fashin, EU members say they now feel compelled to heed Bolsonaro’s plea.

On that occasion, 68 diplomats appeared at the Electoral Court and heard from Fascin that “popular pitches” by Latin American political leaders were generating “accusations of desertion fraud, leading to weeks of political instability in the post-election period”. Bolsonaro accused the minister of usurping executive functions and interfering in international relations. President Fachin was accused of “the usurpation of democracy”.

Diplomats expect to attend the Power-Point presentation, like others the presidency and Department of Defense have already made, with alleged threats to the electronic voting system and weaknesses. Planalto’s foreign policy offensive coincides with increased public pressure by the armed forces to make changes to the election observation process, with the inclusion of an integrity test in polling stations, on October 2, which is being used again. Test ballots and paper ballots, which the military defines as a “parallel voting” process.

According to two European ambassadors, the meeting will be used to listen to the president’s arguments, including informing their respective capitals of his plans. “We have heard arguments on one side, and now we will hear arguments on the other,” justified the ambassador, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The idea of ​​a possible coup attempt in Brazil began in cables and reports from diplomatic missions abroad last year, as evidenced by stadium. The president’s insistence on discrediting the election has diplomats on high alert.

President Bolsonaro insisted on raising doubts about the electoral process in a speech that was interpreted as an attempt not to recognize the election result, should he lose the race to PT Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula appears as a hypothetical team according to polls of voting intentions.