With just over a week to go until the presidential elections in Brazil, incumbent president Lula has once again launched an attack on his American counterpart Trump and his rival Flávio Bolsonaro. In a TV ad launched last night and in a message on social media, Lula claims that Trump supports Bolsonaro so that he can ultimately colonize Brazil.
According to the female presenter who narrates the video, Trump wants this because he is after Brazilian raw materials, but above all because Trump wants to increase his influence on the South American continent through the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. On X, Lula shares the campaign video and writes: "If it were up to him, Brazil would become a colony again."
American tech
The presenter lists a series of reports from international media to support this claim. She points viewers to import tariffs of 25 percent imposed by the White House on Brazilian producers, but she also mentions large American tech companies that would be trying to influence the election process and the political debate.
The Brazilian intelligence service is said to have warned the election authorities about American interference, and according to Lula's camp, Flávio Bolsonaro is supported by the Rockbridge Network, a conservative American donor network co-founded by American vice president JD Vance.
Trump with Lula in hand
It is not the first time Lula accuses the Americans of political infiltration. Also during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Lula said he would not accept foreign interference, although he did not explicitly name the Americans then. "We will not allow the enemies of democracy, internal or external, to attack the will of the people," said the Brazilian president. "Brazilian democracy belongs to the Brazilians."
The Americans themselves have always denied interference. However, it is clear that Bolsonaro's supporters have no problems with Trump. At a party meeting in São Paulo this month, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters not only unveiled a banner to show their support for Jair Bolsonaro, but also released a giant balloon of Trump. In his left hand, this inflatable Trump held a doll of Lula dressed in a burglar's outfit.
That Lula opens the attack on the White House and the Bolsonaros at this moment is not strange. In a recently published police report, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, known as a loyal ally of Lula, is linked to the biggest bank fraud in Brazilian history.
The judge was the driving force behind the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced in 2025 for preparing a coup after he lost the previous elections to Lula. According to recent publications, Judge Moraes had several contacts over the past years with the controversial bank owner Daniel Vorcaro, who in a few years defrauded, among others, a state bank and about 800,000 customers.
Minimal margin
Although Moraes denies having done anything improper with his contacts with the banker, this still reflects on Lula. He had been leading in polls for months over his rival Bolsonaro; now the two are in a neck-and-neck race.
According to a recent poll by the Brazilian research agency Datafolha, Lula is only two percentage points ahead of Bolsonaro; 47 percent versus 45 percent of the votes. The polling agency states it uses a margin of error of exactly 2 percentage points.
On Sunday, October 4, Brazilians will go to the polls for the first round of the presidential elections.