00:00After far-right presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro flew up to Washington to meet Donald
00:05Trump, the U.S. President announced new punitive measures against Brazil.
00:09Our correspondent Brian Mayer has more.
00:13After being exposed for receiving a secret $20 million payoff from a jailed, corrupt former
00:18bank president, far-right presidential hopeful Flavio Bolsonaro flew up to Washington to
00:24meet with the U.S. President.
00:25Days later, Trump announced a series of punitive measures against Brazil and said he no longer
00:31considers the Brazilian government to be a friend of the United States.
00:36We want to know what exactly Flavio Bolsonaro spoke about with Donald Trump.
00:41What was the topic of their meeting?
00:43We know he was trying to change the subject because he'd just been exposed, asking for
00:48R$100 million from a corrupt banker.
00:50What raises questions is that Eduardo Bolsonaro was already up there lobbying against Brazil.
00:57Flavio joined him.
00:58And now we see the consequences.
01:00I believe they are both traitors.
01:05President Trump has promised to impose a 25% import tariff on Brazilian goods.
01:11If he keeps his word, this will be the second time that he's done it.
01:14When he levied 50% tariffs last year, it damaged the U.S. economy more than Brazil's.
01:19More than this, though, many voters are wondering how a senator can even be allowed to travel
01:24to a foreign country to lobby against Brazil's national interests.
01:34Every passing day reveals more of the tentacles of an organized crime group that is run by criminals
01:39who believe that coordinating attacks against the Brazilian people from the United States
01:43will help them take control of the presidency.
01:50Since Brazil is China's most important trading partner in Latin America, doing over three times as much trade with it
01:56as it does with the United States, Trump's new threats against the Lula administration can also be interpreted
02:02as veiled threats against China.
02:07The U.S. is showing that wants to reorganize Latin America into a group of countries run by right or
02:13far-right governments
02:14that will facilitate North American interests within their territories, especially regarding access to certain rare earth minerals.
02:22But mainly, the Trump administration wants to drive all Chinese influence out of Latin America.
02:30A recent poll by Atlas suggests that Flavio Bolsonaro's corruption scandal and that Trump administration's threats against Brazil
02:37have triggered a boost in popularity for incumbent Lula da Silva, who is now leading the race by 10 points.
02:43This is Brian Meir, Telesur Recife.
