In one of the most welcome pieces of news in recent times for democracy, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has achieved a great democratic victory in a keenly contested runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is now serving a 27-year jail term for an earlier coup attempt against President Lula. The results of this election were eagerly awaited not only in Brazil but throughout the world, as the election was also seen globally as a contest between imperialist interference and autonomous choice, given the persistent hostility of the USA, now and in the past, toward President Lula.
Despite Jair Bolsonaro’s involvement in a coup plot after losing the earlier election, the USA continued to support his family members and close associates in Brazilian politics. Some of these close associates lobbied in the USA for punitive steps against their own country, allowing their hostility toward President Lula’s leadership to overwhelm even their concern for the country’s essential interests. Subsequently, when US President Trump arbitrarily imposed a very large tariff increase on Brazilian exports to the USA, these persons openly expressed their happiness.
Subsequently, in the election, open as well as covert US support for Bolsonaro was clearly visible. There was much discussion about Meta’s boosting of pro-Bolsonaro content over pro-Lula content on its social media platforms.
A Reuters report, published in The Times of India under the title “Did the US campaign to tilt Brazil’s polls toward the Bolsonaros?”, stated: “Two US State Department officials led a campaign to restore Brazil’s right-wing Bolsonaro clan to power and pushed sanctions intended to tilt the presidential elections in its favor, according to 10 current and former US officials with direct knowledge of the matter.” Before the election campaign started, these two officials, Beattie and Pita, told US diplomats that US policy was to restore Jair Bolsonaro as Brazil’s leader; subsequently, this support was concentrated on his son Flávio in the presidential election.
The report further states: “Since last year, the officials have advocated punitive measures designed to weaken Lula and boost the Bolsonaros, the 10 sources said.” These steps included sanctioning Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led investigations into Jair Bolsonaro. In July 2025, the USA revoked eight Brazilian Supreme Court justices’ visas and imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods. Some of the punitive measures were later diluted following widespread criticism.
However, it would be entirely wrong to blame only these officials for anti-democratic interference in Brazil, as such interference and covert regime-change efforts go back much further. Among other things, they can be seen in the impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, the imprisonment of presidential candidate Lula da Silva in 2018, and the loss of the PT (Workers’ Party) in the 2018 elections.
An important study later confirmed widespread allegations that appeared repeatedly in Brazil and elsewhere: that the USA played an important part in these events through its highly opportunistic use of the anti-corruption movement, including illegal actions directed against these leaders and their political party.
This study is titled “Anti-Corruption and Imperialist Blind Spots: The Role of the US in Brazil’s Long Coup” and is authored by Brian Mier, Bryan Pitts, Sean T. Mitchell, and others. It was published in Latin American Perspectives.
The study says: “A comprehensive examination of the evidence available, contained in US government statements, English-language media accounts, and hacked Telegram chats among Brazilian prosecutors, indicates that the US was widely involved in the ‘long coup’ that removed the left from power in Brazil in 2016 and secured the elections for the far right in 2018.”
The leading role in this was played by an anti-corruption movement called Lava Jato, or Operation Car Wash. The movement was preceded by large gatherings that educated and trained potential participants in the kinds of “anti-corruption” activities that could target public-sector companies and political leaders and secure international cooperation, particularly US cooperation.
Brazil had discovered large new oil deposits, and this may have instigated foreign attempts to harm its public-sector oil and petroleum interests in order to pave the way for a greater private-sector role. President Rousseff’s efforts to cut private-bank profits may have been another reason for targeting her. A bigger reason may have been the strong role played by the governments of Lula and later Rousseff in protecting the trade interests of developing countries, as well as their refusal to toe the US line in developing relations with countries such as Iran, China, and Russia. The independent stand taken on Palestine may also have irked the USA. Obama’s personal dislike of Lula may have been an aggravating factor, as may general hostility toward any left-wing government.
As the study by Brian Mier et al. notes, by June 2019 the evidence of US interference via Lava Jato was already so strong that the PT leader in Congress, Paulo Pimenta, was able to provide a dossier full of information. It included the names of US prosecutors, public statements by government officials, proof of parallel meetings and events, official schedules, proof of informal collaboration that violated national-sovereignty laws, and evidence that US officials in Brazil were gaining unrestricted knowledge of government authorities.
In 2020, Intercept journalists published Telegram communications revealing that the Lava Jato team had held repeated secret meetings with 17 FBI agents, bypassing national laws and regulations.
On the day leading presidential candidate Lula was arrested in 2018, a prominent Lava Jato leader was heard commenting, “This is a gift from the CIA.”
While leading US media kept quiet about the US role in all this, Lava Jato leaders were given very favorable coverage to boost their image and present them as great heroes.
Adding up all the evidence, the study concluded: “Over the past decade, continuing evidence has emerged that clearly demonstrates that the US government, particularly the Department of Justice, under both Obama and Trump, played a key role in supporting Lava Jato’s politically motivated witch-hunt against the PT.”
The study further states: “The US has long used invasions, insurgencies, and economic blockades to advance its interests in Latin America. Today it has added the tool of anti-corruption to its arsenal.”
The PT government made major contributions to reducing poverty and inequality, but these gains were rapidly rolled back within a few years of its ouster: the income share going to the bottom 50% diminished significantly, while the share going to the top 1% increased substantially. What should serve as a lesson to other developing countries is how US operatives, using local collaborators, could achieve a change of government and the imprisonment of highly popular leaders of the ruling party even in a leading country.
The legal and other aspects of international anti-corruption agreements were used to strengthen this capacity, and the study quotes documents regarding the use of anti-corruption movements to destabilize US competitors and perceived enemies.
Another very disturbing aspect is how anti-corruption rhetoric was used opportunistically in a way that turned good leaders into targets of corruption accusations while racketeers were celebrated as heroes. Thus, while opposing corruption sincerely and honestly must be an important aspect of any democracy, clear caution should be exercised regarding the opportunistic use of anti-corruption movements.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine, and A Day in 2071. His website is bharatdogra.in, and his YouTube channel is Bharat Dogra | Save Earth Campaign
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