By Hedelberto López Blanch* / Special Collaboration for Resumen Latinoamericano.
Obsessed with seizing political and economic control of all of Latin America, US President Donald Trump is interfering in Brazil’s presidential campaign, which will take place on October 4th and whose main contenders are Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (seeking reelection) and the far-right opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his support for the release of former President Jair Bolsonaro (convicted of corruption) and has reaffirmed his support for Flávio Bolsonaro in the hope that he will win the upcoming elections, thus securing an unconditional ally at the head of the government of the Latin American giant.
Since arriving at the White House in January 2025, Trump has interfered in the electoral campaigns of various Latin American countries, successfully influencing voters with fear by threatening sanctions against any nationalist candidate.
For example, he interfered in the October 2025 legislative elections in Argentina, the November 2025 presidential elections in Honduras, and the May-June 2026 elections in Colombia.
These acts of interference were claimed by Trump, who publicly took credit for the results of these electoral processes. This represents the reinstatement of the Monroe Doctrine to exert US control over the peoples of Latin America.
On July 22, Washington imposed 25% tariffs on a list of Brazilian products, citing a purported Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act, which it considers to be “unfair trade practices by the Brazilian government.”
As justification, the U.S. administration cites its “disagreements with the policies of the Lula da Silva administration” regarding various sectors, including “digital commerce and electronic payment services, enforcement of anti-corruption laws, intellectual property protection, access to the ethanol market, and protection against illegal deforestation,” among others.
Among the affected products are steel, automobiles, timber, sugar, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and minerals.
Essential exports such as beef, aircraft parts, and coffee will not be affected by this unjustified measure, although the tariffs will impact approximately 18% of shipments from Brazil to the United States.
The Brazilian government declared that “there is no justification for unilateral measures against our country,” since, according to statistics from the U.S. administration itself, the United States Over the past 15 years, the US has accumulated a trade surplus of $424.5 billion in goods and services with Brazil.
Symptomatically, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sinister figure involved in any action that might affect progressive governments in Latin America, announced that Trump “ordered the Office of the
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that a 25% tariff was imposed on a large portion of products imported from Brazil because Lula and his government had not negotiated with the United States in good faith.”
In other words, as Rubio implied: either you surrender economically and politically to Washington’s interests, or you will suffer the consequences.
The Brazilian government denied the accusations of unfair trade practices made by Washington and activated immediate responses, such as providing an assistance package of 18.5 billion reais (approximately $3.7 billion) in loans to exporters who They will be harmed by the new tariffs.
The aid will be provided through the expansion of a program called the Sovereign Brazil Plan, which was implemented last year by the government after a previous round of tariffs imposed by Washington. Under this plan, affected companies receive insurance, guarantees, and subsidized loans.
The Minister of Planning announced that the plan includes 5 billion reais from the National Development Bank and 13.5 billion reais from the Brazilian Treasury.
Brazilian sociologist Emir Sader, speaking to the PIA-GLOBAL news agency, explained that “the arguments invoked by the Trump administration to impose new tariffs are all lies, in the style of its president.”
He added that what matters to the United States is trying to reverse the inevitable electoral defeat of Bolsonaro’s movement next October.
In an attempt to further isolate Lula’s government, Washington has just imposed tariffs of between 10% and 12% on some 60 countries, including Brazil and other Latin American nations, for allegedly “failing to enforce the ban on imports of goods produced with forced labor,” according to the USTR. Now, the tariffs will be 37% for the Latin American giant.
Thus, Trump and his staunch ally Marco Rubio are launching an attack against the Brazilian government to try to defeat it in the upcoming elections, a strategy that can only be countered by President Lula’s electoral experience and the support of his people.
IMAGE CREDIT: Cover illustration: Adán Iglesias Toledo
(*) Hedelberto López Blanch is a renowned Cuban journalist. He writes for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” and “Miami, Dirty Money,” among others.
[ SOURCE: RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL TERCER MUNDO CUBA / EN RESUMEN ]
