Brazil Seeks Probe Into Alleged US Funding Of Far-Right Groups

Brazil’s Attorney General, Jorge Messias, has called for an investigation into alleged US efforts to influence the country’s domestic politics through funding linked to right-wing groups.

Messias made the call on Thursday after The Guardian reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump had considered directing $1 million to Brazilian groups opposing the country’s Supreme Court.

The attorney general described the report as a serious concern ahead of Brazil’s presidential election and warned against foreign interference in the country’s political affairs.

“Foreign meddling cannot be tolerated,” Messias wrote in a social media post, describing the report as “an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty”.

He also linked the allegations to what he described as recent external pressure on Brazilian institutions during the election period.

“The information is especially serious in light of Brazil’s electoral process and the recent episodes of external pressure on our institutions,” he added.

The reported US funding forms part of a wider reallocation of more than $175 million from the US State Department’s Human Rights and Democracy Fund towards causes associated with conservative and right-wing agendas overseas.

According to a news report, some of the proposed funding targeted groups in Brazil seeking to challenge what the US administration described as “lawfare and censorship”.

The report also identified proposed support for groups campaigning on behalf of white Afrikaners in South Africa, alongside other conservative causes in Europe.

The allegations have emerged as Brazil prepares for its presidential election, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seeking another term against a field that includes Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.

Recent polling has shown a close contest between Lula and Bolsonaro in potential second-round scenarios. A Datafolha poll published on Thursday put Lula at 48 per cent and Bolsonaro at 45 per cent in a simulated runoff.

The first round of voting is scheduled for October 4, with a second round possible on October 25 if no candidate secures more than half of the valid votes.

The US allegations have added another layer to an already tense political contest, particularly because of Washington’s previous involvement in disputes surrounding Brazil’s judiciary.

The Brazilian Supreme Court has faced sustained criticism from Bolsonaro and his supporters, especially over proceedings involving former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Jair Bolsonaro received a 27-year prison sentence in September 2025 after his conviction over his role in an alleged attempt to overturn his defeat by Lula in the 2022 election.

He and his supporters, including Trump, have described the prosecution as political persecution.

Trump had earlier imposed 50 per cent tariffs on selected Brazilian goods while criticising the treatment of Bolsonaro. He later removed those tariffs.

The US administration also revoked the visas of some Brazilian judicial officials involved in Bolsonaro’s case and imposed sanctions on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Washington accused Moraes of conducting what it called an unlawful campaign against right-wing voices.

The latest controversy has also drawn attention to Flávio Bolsonaro’s relationship with Trump. The Brazilian senator met the US president at the White House in May and has advocated closer relations between the two countries.

Lula, meanwhile, has criticised what he regards as US intervention in Latin American political affairs.

The Brazilian attorney general’s call for an investigation comes as rival political rallies fill the streets and campaigns enter their final days before the first-round vote.

The allegations have therefore placed questions about foreign influence alongside the economy, security and the role of the judiciary in Brazil’s increasingly competitive election.