U.S. sends a message to Brazilians about whom to elect by suspending missile sales to Brasilia ‘for now’

That U.S. interference in the elections of other countries is one of Washington’s favorite pastimes has been known for over 100 years.

Now it is Brazil’s turn.

The U.S. government has postponed the sale of missiles to Brazil to send a “message” regarding the October presidential election after President Jair Bolsonaro criticized electronic ballot boxes and called for the armed forces to monitor the vote, the Folha de São Paulo daily reported today.

The delivery of 220 Javelin anti-tank missiles used by Ukraine in its war against Russia and which are sold on the dark web to anyone with US$30,000, has been “postponed” for the Bolsonaro government ‘for the time being, although the sale has been approved.

According to CBS, only 30% of U.S. supplied weapons reached the Ukrainian war front.

(Javelin, NLAW, and AT4 launchers are offered for sale by Ukrainian arms dealers)

The measure does not mean a definitive cancellation of the delivery of the missiles and is seen as “a way to send a message to Bolsonaro and the armed forces, something that the government of Joe Biden has intensified in recent months,” the newspaper reported.

The sale was agreed upon during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s term and ratified by Biden late last year.

Through the State Department, the U.S. government expressed confidence in the electoral system a month ago after Bolsonaro met with foreign ambassadors to whom he questioned the ballot box.

Bolsonaro, who is up for re-election in October, has claimed that the head of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Judge Edson Fachin, was part of a plot to favor the victory of opposition former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Two weeks ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin arrived in Brasilia, defending the military’s deference to civilian authorities.

“The more we deepen our democracies, the more we deepen our security,” Austin told the U.S. Secretary of Defense Conference in Brasilia (ANSA).

More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

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