Inside the Trump-administration campaign to return Brazil’s Bolsonaro clan to power
SAO PAULO, Oct 24 - Two US State Department officials led a campaign to restore the right-wing Bolsonaro clan to power in Brazil and successfully pushed for sanctions aimed at tilting the election in their favor, according to 10 current and former US officials with direct knowledge of the matter.
Their plan faces a reckoning on Sunday, when Senator Flavio Bolsonaro faces leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a tight run-off.
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Bolsonaro → return → off
Lula has warned Washington against encroaching on Brazil's sovereignty and accused his opponent of plotting with the Trump administration.
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Lula → warn → administration
The two officials were Darren Beattie, a Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs who oversees Brazil policy, and Ricardo Pita, another senior advisor promoted this year to Deputy Assistant Secretary for North America.
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who → oversee → America
The details of their campaign to return the Bolsonaros to power haven't been previously reported.
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details → return → power
Beattie and Pita, both political appointees, operated with wide latitude to manage Washington's relationship with the second most-populous country in the Americas, the people said.
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people → operate → Americas
In the months before election campaigning began, they instructed US diplomats in Brazil that it was US policy to restore former President Jair Bolsonaro as Brazil’s leader – even though he had been disqualified from office for plotting a coup in 2022, when he lost the presidential election to Lula, three of the people said.
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three → begin → people
After Bolsonaro received a 27-year sentence in September 2025, the two men pivoted to supporting the candidacy of his son, right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the three sources said.
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sources → receive → son
Beattie and Pita told embassy staff not to interact with other conservative presidential contenders who could challenge the younger Bolsonaro, they said.
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they → tell → Bolsonaro
Since last year, the two men have successfully advocated for punitive US government measures on Brazil designed to weaken Lula and boost the Bolsonaros, the 10 people told Reuters.
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people → advocate → Reuters
The policies included designating Brazilian gangs as terrorist groups and imposing US sanctions against the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice who was spearheading the investigation into Jair Bolsonaro.
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who → include → Bolsonaro
Reuters could not determine the extent to which the two men were acting on orders from the White House or Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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men → determine → State
Trump, a vocal defender of Bolsonaro since his election defeat in 2022, hasn’t publicly endorsed any candidate.
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Trump → endorse → candidate
The White House declined to comment and referred questions to the State Department.
State Department Spokesman Tommy Pigott didn't answer questions about specific measures and directives involving Beattie and Pita but said in a statement: "All actions taken by the United States against narco-traffickers and to protect free speech are to defend the rights and lives of the American people.
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actions → decline → people
The Brazilian people have the right to choose their leaders through free and fair elections."
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people → have → elections
Lula’s office did not respond to comment requests.
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office → respond → requests
Orna Blum, one of the officials who spoke to Reuters about Beattie and Pita’s efforts, led the State Department's Brazil and Southern Cone office until retiring last year over her opposition to the Trump administration.
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who → speak → administration
Washington "has every right to pursue its economic and strategic interests," she said.
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she → have → interests
"But when American foreign policy instruments are used to pressure another democracy over the legal fate of a political ally, the line between diplomacy and political intervention has been crossed."
SANCTIONS ON A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
Beattie is a former White House speechwriter fired in 2018 after addressing an event frequented by white nationalists.
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Beattie → use → nationalists
He’s also the architect of "free speech diplomacy," a policy advocated by Trump allies that seeks to punish nations they accuse of censoring right-wing speech by US citizens, companies and global right-wing allies.
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they → ’ → citizens
The United States has accused Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of violating free speech rights by jailing Brazilians for political social-media posts and by censoring content of US social-media companies.
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States → accuse → companies
Moraes has argued he was ridding social media of fake news that undermined public faith in Brazil's democratic institutions.
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that → argue → institutions
Moraes did not respond to a comment request.
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Moraes → respond → request
Pita, a conservative Venezuelan-American, is among many in Rubio's orbit who view Lula as a threat to US interests in Latin America.
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who → view → America
Rubio has been a key leader in the administration’s aggressive policy in the region, which has included an invasion of Venezuela to oust its president, an oil blockade of Cuba, and military attacks on suspected drug boats from Latin America.
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which → include → America
Beattie and Pita were drawn to the Bolsonaro family’s right-wing politics, their antipathy towards Lula, and the idea that Jair Bolsonaro was a victim of abuses by Brazil's Supreme Court.
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Bolsonaro → draw → Court
Like Trump in the 2020 US election, Bolsonaro refused to concede he lost Brazil’s 2022 presidential vote, triggering riots by supporters who stormed government buildings.
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who → refuse → buildings
The Supreme Court convicted him in September 2025 of plotting a coup to remain in power.
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Court → convict → power
Before the conviction, in early 2025, the Bolsonaros were aggressively lobbying Washington for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act against Moraes, who had led criminal investigations into Jair Bolsonaro.
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who → lobby → Bolsonaro
The act is a 2016 federal law allowing US sanctions against foreign individuals responsible for human-rights abuses or severe corruption.
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act → allow → abuses
Around April 2025, Jair Bolsonaro’s younger son, Eduardo, visited Beattie in his State Department office in Washington DC, according to two former US officials.
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son → visit → officials
Eduardo Bolsonaro had been making the public case for Magnitsky sanctions against Moraes since at least 2024, and in March 2025 he said in a livestream that it was "practically certain" the Trump administration would do so.
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administration → make → livestream
Eduardo Bolsonaro did not respond to requests for comment.
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Bolsonaro → respond → comment
Beattie made calls to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to appeal for Magnitsky sanctions against Moraes, said a former US official with direct knowledge of the matter.
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official → make → matter
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose department administers Magnitsky sanctions through OFAC, offered no opposition, the former official said.
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official → administer → opposition
The US announced Magnitsky sanctions against Moraes in July 2025, citing his alleged violations of free-speech rights by censoring anti-government social-media posts.
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US → announce → posts
A Treasury official said Bessent and Rubio are "fully aligned on the administration’s foreign policy."
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Bessent → say → policy
The Bolsonaro family was also pushing for Washington to designate Brazil's top gangs – the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) – as terrorist organizations.
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Washington → push → organizations
They believed such a designation would hurt Lula, who some opponents have criticized for failing to control crime.
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opponents → believe → crime
Eduardo Bolsonaro had become friends with Pita through US conservative circles, and both supported the effort to designate the gangs as terrorist groups.
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both → become → groups
In May 2025, Pita joined a US delegation that visited Jair Bolsonaro at his residence in Brasilia as he awaited his trial, according to public announcements at the time.
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he → join → time
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
