Nov 10 2026
A group of over 50 Brazilian and foreign academics residing in the United States published an open letter this Monday, November 10, in which they reaffirm the importance of recognizing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s legitimate victory at the polls, and express concern regarding the unfounded questions that have been raised about the outcome of the October 25 election. The group reaffirms that “there is no credible evidence of fraud or any irregularity in the election result, which was certified by the Electoral Justice system and recognized not only by international and domestic observers but also by the defeated candidate’s own party, the PL (Liberal Party), to which Flávio Bolsonaro belongs.”
The document refutes the accusation that extending voting hours from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on October 25 influenced the outcome. Both President Lula’s and Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaigns requested this extension. Only 0.03% of voters cast their ballots during the extended hours, whereas Lula’s victory over Flávio was secured by a much wider margin of 3.58 percentage points.
Academics worry that the current U.S. administration hosted Flávio Bolsonaro after he left Brazil, where he faces allegations of money laundering, currency evasion, and corruption before the Supreme Federal Court. “At the very least, the U.S. government owes both the Brazilian and American public a clear explanation regarding the circumstances under which the visas were issued, the role played by U.S. authorities in facilitating Bolsonaro’s entry, and whether standard procedures were followed,” the text states.
The group concludes with four requests directed at the U.S. government:
To recognize President Lula’s legitimate electoral victory and reject baseless claims that the election was fraudulent;
To respect the independence of Brazil’s democratic and judicial institutions, while maintaining the right to examine their actions critically;
To reject attempts to conflate Senator Bolsonaro’s personal legal situation with the legitimacy of the presidential election; and
To request that the United States government provide transparency regarding its decision to grant visas to Senator Bolsonaro and his family following his departure from Brazil.
The text was proposed by James N. Green, one of the coordinators of the US Network for Democracy in Brazil, chair of the Board of Directors of the Washington Brazil Office (WBO), and former president of the Brazilian Studies Association, and by Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, also a coordinator of the US Network for Democracy in Brazil and a former president of the Brazilian Studies Association.
