Presidential pre-candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has mocked the request made by Jair Bolsonaro to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to help him defeat the Workers Party candidate at the forthcoming elections, to be held on October 2.
Bolsonaro reportedly warned Biden that Lula is a “threat to US interests”.
“[Bolsonaro] went there to ask Biden to help him not let me win the elections? Is it true? I saw it in the American press.” Lula said in an interview with Radio Vitoriosa, from Uberlândia (MG).
The former president repeated as similar comment on his social media accounts:
“Is it true what the American press said, that Bolsonaro asked Biden for help against me in the elections? I don’t believe this can be true, because it would be too humiliating.” – Lula, June 14 2022
According to information received anonymously by Bloomberg, Bolsonaro made the request during a private meeting with Biden on Thursday 9th June. The meeting took place during the Brazilian president’s trip to the US to participate in the Summit of the Americas, in Los Angeles.
Bolsonaro later denied the claim, and complained that the report “does not cite sources: ‘according to such a person’. What I said to Biden does not come from me or Carlos França. It is speculation”.
However, Brazilian journalist Jamil Chade confirmed with two sources in diplomatic circles that the request was indeed made by Bolsonaro to Biden. When contacted, both the Brazilian and American governments did not comment on the report. The request for help comes amid threats from Bolsonaro and his military dominated government that they will not recognise October’s result unless changes are made to the system.
Lula also asked Bolsonaro to come clean with what was discussed at the meeting with the US president.
“When you say that the conversation was extraordinary, fantastic, say what you talked about. Say what the agreement was”, Lula remarked, after deeming the Summit of the Americas a failure due to the widespread absences of Latin American leaders, such as Mexico’s Lopez Abrador. Bolsonaro was invited personally by Biden via special envoy in an attempt to rescue the summit’s credibility.
Lula leads all election polls, with recent aggregations putting him on 53% of valid votes, and on course for taking the presidency in the first round. Bolsonaro trails by up to 20%.
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