Lula Campaign Escalates Geopolitical Rhetoric, Accuses Donald Trump of Seeking to 'Colonize' Brazil

The re-election campaign for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sharply escalated its geopolitical rhetoric in the final stretch of the election, airing a televised advertisement that accuses former United States President Donald Trump of seeking to “colonise” Brazil to exploit its vast natural resources. The advertisement, broadcast just over a week before the first round of voting on October 4, directly links Lula’s main rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, to the alleged interference, claiming Bolsonaro is "Trump's candidate" who would "hand over our natural resources to the United States."

The minute-long video targets the historically sensitive issue of national sovereignty in Brazil, arguing that Trump intends to "take our wealth, steal our future and leave us in the dust" by supporting the opposition. Senator Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and the current presidential race is widely considered a tight, neck-and-neck contest between the left-wing incumbent and the conservative challenger, echoing the highly polarized political climate of recent years.

Lula's campaign supported the claim by referencing media reports about alleged US-funded political advertising and an assessment from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) that reportedly warned of a "critical level" of risk of US electoral interference. The ad taps into a recurring nationalist theme used by the incumbent’s Workers’ Party (PT), framing the election as a choice between a sovereign Brazil and one that risks becoming a colony. The President himself wrote on social media that if his rival had his way, "Brazil will become a colony again."

The United States has previously rejected any suggestion of involvement in Brazil’s electoral process. The US State Department issued a denial, calling any insinuation of a "ploy" to undermine a democratic nation's election a "baseless lie." The move by the Lula campaign signals a decisive strategic choice to shift the focus away from domestic issues and instead use a nationalist, anti-imperialist message to rally voters in the final days before the vote.

With polls showing the two candidates remain in a statistical tie, the use of such charged geopolitical language aims to define the terms of the debate before the first round on October 4. If neither Lula nor Flávio Bolsonaro secures more than half the valid votes, the two will face each other in a mandatory runoff election scheduled for October 25.