Democrats want U.S. to pull military aid to Brazil if Bolsonaro challenges election

U.S. Congressman Tom Malinowski of New Jersey and five other Democrat lawmakers submitted an amendment to the U.S. national defense budget that makes continuation of military aid to Brazil contingent on the Brazilian Armed Forces’ non-interference in this year’s general elections.

Amendment 893 to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 was submitted on Tuesday, but the House has yet to make its final decision on the budget.

The move is a symbolic stance against Jair Bolsonaro’s multiple threats to challenge the electoral results should he lose to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October.  While U.S. military aid to Brazil has already been decreasing for years, the impact of such a decision on the image of the Armed Forces and country as a whole would be considerable. 

During the fiscal year of 2018 — when Michel Temer was still president — the U.S. earmarked USD 7.4 million for military aid to Brazil, a figure that dropped to less than USD 1 million the following year according to USAID data. 

In 2020, the U.S. allocated a total of around USD 87 million in aid to Brazil, with less than 1 percent of that amount going to military assistance. Colombia, one of the biggest recipients of...