Ramirez, Sanders, Jayapal, and García Urge the Trump Administration to Respect Brazil’s Electoral Process

Washington, DC - Yesterday, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Congressmembers Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04) led 27 colleagues in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio raising serious concerns about the Trump administration's efforts to undermine the Western Hemisphere's second-largest democracy ahead of Brazil's presidential election next month.

In the letter, the Members of Congress asked Secretary Rubio to confirm whether the administration will commit to respecting Brazil's electoral process and to recognizing its certified outcome.

"Over the course of President Trump's second term, we have seen U.S. officials engage in a sustained, multifaceted campaign of interference and destabilization in Brazil," wrote the members.

Last year, the Trump administration began imposing tariffs and sanctions to pressure Brazil's Supreme Court over its trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro for his role in an attempted coup, intended to overturn Brazil's 2022 presidential elections. Recently, the administration designated Brazilian gangs as "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTOs) two days after right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his son reportedly made such a request to President Trump in the Oval Office.

"Rather than helping defend Brazilian democracy, the United States is acting as an agent of interference and destabilization-using diplomatic, economic, and political pressure in ways

that risk weakening the country's democratic institutions, undermining confidence in Brazil's electoral process, and inflicting further damage on our relationship with a strategic U.S. ally and trading partner," concluded the members.

The Trump administration's efforts reflect a deeply troubled pattern of interference in recent electoral processes across Latin America, including Argentina's midterm elections and the presidential elections in Honduras and Colombia. The pattern risks eroding electorates' confidence in democratic processes and institutions across the region.

The letter was also signed by Reps. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Summer Lee (PA-12), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson (GA-04),Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Greg Casar (TX-35), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Jim Costa (CA-21), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Stephen L. Lynch(MA-08), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14),

The letter has been endorsed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Washington Brazil Office (WBO), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Latin American Working Group (LAWG), and the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.

For the full letter, CLICK HERE