By Hedelberto López Blanch on July 289, 2026 from Havana
illustration: Adano
Obsessed with seizing political and economic control over all of Latin America, U.S. President Donald Trump is meddling in Brazil’s presidential campaign, which will take place on October 4 and feature Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (seeking reelection) and far-right opposition candidate Flavio Bolsonaro as the main contenders.
On numerous occasions, Trump has publicly spoken out in favor of the release of former President Jair Bolsonaro (convicted of corruption) and has reaffirmed his support for Flavio Bolsonaro in the hope that he will win the upcoming election, thereby securing an unconditional ally at the helm of the Latin American giant’s government.
Since arriving at the White House in January 2025, Trump has meddled in the election campaigns of various Latin American countries, a strategy that has paid off by instilling fear in voters through threats to impose sanctions on the country should a nationalist candidate win.
Thus, we see that he interfered in the October 2025 legislative elections in Argentina, the November 2025 presidential elections in Honduras, and the May–June 2026 presidential elections in Colombia.
Trump claimed responsibility for these acts of interference, publicly taking credit for the outcomes of those electoral processes. This marks the reinstatement of the Monroe Doctrine to assert U.S. control over the peoples of Latin America.
On July 22, Washington imposed 25% tariffs on a list of Brazilian products under the guise of Section 301 of U.S. trade law, citing “unfair trade practices by the Brazilian government.”
As justification, the U.S. administration cites its “disagreements with the policies of the Lula da Silva administration” regarding various issues such as “digital commerce and electronic payment services, enforcement of anti-corruption laws, intellectual property protection, access to the ethanol market, and protection against illegal deforestation,” among others.
Among the affected products are steel, automotive engines, wood, sugar, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and minerals.
Essential exports such as beef, aircraft parts, and coffee will not be affected by this unjustified measure, although the tariffs will impact approximately 18% of shipments from Brazil to the United States.
The Brazilian government stated that “there is no justification for unilateral measures against our country,” since, according to statistics from the U.S. government itself, the United States has accumulated a surplus of $424,500 million in goods and services with Brazil over the past 15 years.
Tellingly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio—a sinister figure involved in every action that could harm progressive governments in Latin America—announced that Trump “ordered the Office of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that a 25% tariff was imposed on a large portion of products imported from Brazil because Lula and his government have not negotiated with the United States in good faith.”
In other words, as Rubio implied: either you submit economically and politically to Washington’s interests, or else you will suffer the consequences.
The Brazilian government denied Washington’s accusations of unfair trade practices and took immediate action, such as providing an assistance package worth 18.5 billion reais (3.7 billion dollars) in loans to exporters who will be harmed by the new tariffs.
The aid will be provided through the expansion of a program called Plan Brasil Soberano, which was implemented last year by the government following a previous round of tariffs imposed by Washington. Through this program, affected companies receive insurance, guarantees, and subsidized loans.
The Minister of Planning announced that the plan includes 5,000 million reais from the National Development Bank and 13,500 from the Brazilian Treasury.
Brazilian sociologist Emir Sader, speaking to the PIA-GLOBAL news agency, explained that “the arguments invoked by the Trump administration to impose new tariffs are all lies, just like their president.”
He added that “what matters to the United States is trying to reverse the inevitable electoral defeat of Bolsonarism next October.”
In an attempt to further corner Lula’s government, Washington has just imposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 12% on some 60 countries, including Brazil and other Latin American nations, for allegedly having “failed to enforce the ban on the import of goods produced using forced labor,” according to the USTR. Tariffs will now stand at 37% for the Latin American giant.
Given these circumstances, Trump and his staunch ally Marco Rubio are lashing out at the Brazilian government in an attempt to ensure its defeat in the upcoming elections—a move that can only be countered by President Lula’s electoral experience and the support of his people.
Heidelberto López Blanch writes for the daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” “Miami, Dirty Money,” and “Rubio, an Uncontrollable Mythomaniac,” among others.
Source: Cuba en Resumen