Itamaraty: Trump advisor’s visit to Bolsonaro could cause ‘undue interference’
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, informed the Federal Supreme Court (STF) this Thursday, 12th, that the intended visit by Darren Beattie, advisor to the Donald Trump government, to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), could represent “undue interference” in Brazil’s internal affairs.
In the document, Vieira argued that “the visit of a foreign State official to a former President of the Republic in an election year could constitute undue interference in the internal affairs of the Brazilian State”.
The response was sent to STF minister Alexandre de Moraes after the rapporteur’s request this Wednesday, 11, for Itamaraty to clarify the diplomatic agenda of Darren Beattie, current advisor to the State Department of the United States of America.
According to Vieira, Beattie requested a meeting with representatives of the Brazilian government only after presenting, through Bolsonaro’s defense, the request to visit the former president.
The order of the requests, highlighted the minister, indicates that the diplomatic component was invoked to justify the prison visit, and not the other way around.
Moraes asks for details about the agenda of Trump’s advisor who wants to visit Bolsonaro
Moraes asked Itamaraty for information about the existence of a diplomatic agenda and possible request for a visit to the former president
According to the document, the visa had been authorized based on a statement from the US State Department “for a conference on critical minerals and for official meetings with representatives of the Brazilian government”. The event in question is the Brazil-USA Critical Minerals Forum, which will be held in São Paulo, on the 18th, at the headquarters of the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil (Amcham).
For the minister, “the request to visit the former president does not fit with the objectives officially communicated by the State Department”.
Moraes had authorized the meeting for the morning of March 18, from 8 am to 10 am, with the presence of an interpreter. Wednesday is visitation day at Papudinha, contrary to the dates requested by the former president’s lawyers. Bolsonaro’s defense asked for a reconsideration of the day and time, alleging a conflict with Beattie’s “diplomatic agenda”.
Bolsonaro is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months in prison and detention, in a closed regime, set by the STF. He is being held in the General Staff Room of the 19th Military Police Battalion of the Federal District, within the Papuda Penitentiary Complex.
