US officials accused of campaign to return Bolsonaro family to power in Brazil

Two senior US State Department officials led a campaign to return the right-wing Bolsonaro family to power in Brazil, according to ten current and former American officials with direct knowledge of the matter. The officials are Darren Beattie, senior adviser for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Ricardo Pita, who was promoted this year to deputy assistant secretary for North America.

The plan faces a decisive test on Sunday, October 25, when Senator Flávio Bolsonaro faces left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a tight second round. Lula has warned Washington against interfering in Brazilian sovereignty and accused his rival of conspiring with the Trump government.

“Tariffs were designed by the Trump administration to pressure the Brazilian government and had no economic justification. It was just another way of interfering in the elections.”

Before the election campaign began, Beattie and Pita instructed American diplomats in Brazil that US policy was to return former President Jair Bolsonaro to national leadership. Bolsonaro had been barred from public office for conspiring to stage a coup in 2022 after losing the presidential election to Lula.

After Bolsonaro received a 27-year prison sentence in September 2025, the two officials began supporting the candidacy of his son, right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. They directed embassy staff not to interact with other conservative pre-candidates who could challenge the younger Bolsonaro.

Since last year, the two successfully advocated punitive measures by the US government against Brazil, designed to weaken Lula and strengthen the Bolsonaros. Brazilian media reported that Trump demanded the release of former President Jair Bolsonaro in exchange for lifting trade tariffs on commerce.

Brazilian media also reported that Trump demanded the release of former President Jair Bolsonaro in exchange for lifting trade tariffs on commerce. A document published by Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo on September 17 detailed these demands, though it did not name the former president, referring only to "political dissidents."

Professor James N. Green, a specialist in Brazilian political history at Brown University in the US, told the BBC that the tariffs were designed by the Trump administration to pressure the Brazilian government and had no economic justification. He said it was another way of interfering in the elections.