Tough, Biden urged Bolsonaro not to obstruct presidential election

The nature of the message Sullivan delivered was first reported in S. Paulo’s Folha newspaper on Saturday. The newspaper quoted a US official as saying that Sullivan – who had previously visited Argentina – stressed the importance of not undermining confidence in Brazil’s electoral process.

Bolsonaro has been attacking electronic machines used in Brazil for weeks and has been pushing for the adoption of printed ballots that can be counted if election results are challenged. It did not provide any evidence of past fraud or current vulnerabilities.

The president fiercely attacked a judge of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Higher Electoral Court (TSE), Luiz Barroso, for publicly questioning his unfounded claims and for declaring that the system could be audited. The attacks, which have put the Brazilian institutional system on alert, came to a head on Saturday, when Bolsonaro told a group of supporters in Santa Catarina (see separate) that “Barroso is a son of a bitch”.

Critics fear that Bolsonaro, like his ally former US President Donald Trump, will cast doubt on whether he loses next year’s election and even plans a coup.

As his popularity drops amid the world’s second-highest death toll from COVID-19, opinion polls show Bolsonaro is around 20 points behind former left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, although that none have officially announced their candidacy.

Sullivan’s delegation expressed the confidence of the United States in the ability of Brazilian institutions to organize free and fair elections.