Representatives from some of the main foreign embassies in Brasilia, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Russia, have yet to confirm their presence at the meeting with Jair Bolsonaro this Monday, the 18th. The event was organized by the President of the Republic. To discuss Brazil’s electronic voting machine… Bolsonaro wants to present his never-proven thesis of fraud in the 2014 and 2018 elections to ambassadors.
Other embassies have confirmed that they will send representatives such as France and the European Union. There is skepticism in the diplomatic community about the criteria used by the Palacio do Planalto to choose the invited representatives for political settlement. The United Kingdom’s representation in Brasilia was not invited until the start of this Saturday night, 16, as was done in some other European countries such as Sweden.
In the case of the United States, there is still no decision on whether to participate. The current head of the embassy, Charge d’Affaires Douglas Koneff, is based out of Brasilia. He will return to the federal capital on Monday morning when he will have to decide on the matter. The meeting with Bolsonaro is scheduled for noon.
Announcing the meeting during “live” on Thursday of last week, the 7th, Bolsonaro said he would meet with “fifty ambassadors or more”.
“I invited ambassadors, I’m going to talk about the 2014 elections, documents, I’m going to talk about the 2020 elections, especially the numbers calculated in So Paulo, I’m going to talk about 2018 I’m also going to talk, documented, document from TSE itself. Part, because the world needs to know how Brazil’s electoral system is,” he said. To date, no evidence of fraud in the electronic voting system has been found, despite Bolsonaro’s claims.
Other foreign delegates such as Japan, Russia and South Korea have not confirmed whether they will attend the meeting. In the South Korean case, the embassy said it was “not aware of any invitation”. Ambassador Lim Ki-mo is on a visit to Seoul. Another who is based out of Brasilia is Spaniard Ignacio Yabanez, the ambassador of the European Union. Therefore, the embassy will be represented by the char d’affaires.
In the case of Russia, the embassy’s response to the Estadao report was that there was no information about the invitation to the meeting. The representation of Singapore will also not send a representative. According to the report, the Chinese Embassy was also contacted, but they did not respond. Currently, the Chinese representation is without an ambassador, who is being represented by the Charge d’Affaires. In “Live,” Bolsonaro also said that he would create a slideshow with PowerPoint software to show alleged evidence of fraud. “The theme will be a powerpoint for us to show everything that happened in the 2014 and 2018 elections. Documents. Also the participation of our three ministers from TSE on the electoral system”, he said.
In addition to foreign representatives, the presidents of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) will not attend a meeting hosted by President Jair Bolsonaro with foreign ambassadors in Brazil this Monday.
At the meeting the President of the Republic will present the never-proven thesis of fraud in electronic voting machines to foreigners. In a letter sent to Planalto Palace, Minister Edson Fachin, the president of TSE, said that a “duty of impartiality” precludes him from attending the meeting. STF President Luiz Fuchs will be out of Brasilia and return to the capital on Tuesday.
In addition to Fux and Fachin, Bolsonaro also invited Minister Emmanoel Pereira, President of the Superior Labor Court (TST), to a meeting with foreign dignitaries; and the president of the Federal Audit Court (TCU), Ana Arres – the latter is an advisory body to Congress and is not part of the judiciary. Only Pereira confirmed his presence.
The event with the ambassadors is not yet included in Bolsonaro’s official agenda on Monday, the 18th. The only scheduled appointment is a meeting with Pedro Cesar Sousa, Deputy Head of Legal Affairs at the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, which is scheduled at 3 pm.
