BRASILIA and SÃO PAULO - The Itamaraty summoned this Wednesday, 9, the representative of the Embassy of the United States in Brazil to provide clarifications on the note published in defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Earlier, the US embassy said Bolsonaro and his family have been"strong partners" of the Americans, and said the"political persecution against him, his family and his supporters is shameful and disrespectful of Brazil's democratic traditions."
The Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, Gabriel Escobar, was received by Ambassador Maria Luisa Escorel, Secretary for North America and Europe of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without speaking to the press.
Estadão has learned that the Brazilian government was disturbed by the fact that the U.S. embassy widely publicized the State Department's position in response to a news outlet on demand. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy received instructions from Washington to get involved in a matter that the Brazilian government considers interference.
The note from the American embassy reinforced the statement by President Donald Trump , who on Monday, the 7th, called the legal proceedings against the former Brazilian president “persecution” and a “witch hunt”, asking that “Bolsonaro be left alone”.
A day later, on Tuesday night, the 8th, Trump returned to his social network, Truth Social, repeating the same arguments in defense of the former president and defendant for coup d'état in the Supreme Federal Court (STF) .
This is the second time that the top US official in Brazil has been invited to provide clarification. Escobar was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January, shortly after taking office, to explain the deportation of Brazilians under degrading conditions. That month, a flight carrying 88 deported Brazilians landed in Manaus, and the Federal Police found them handcuffed in Brazil, which contradicts the agreement between the countries.