Brazil in May 2026: the most important developments in politics
Brazil's politics in May 2026 were dominated by the campaign for the October election and a funding scandal around the Bolsonaro family. Allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro were reshuffled as his family's Senate candidacies faced resistance. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential contender, came under pressure after audio recordings surfaced of him meeting a key figure in the Master bank scandal. The Supreme Court examined his link to Daniel Vorcaro, producer of a film about his father. Polls moved back and forth: two showed Flávio Bolsonaro tied with President Lula, while an Atlas/Bloomberg poll on May 19 gave Lula 48.9% to 41.8% in a hypothetical runoff against a Bolsonaro. On May 26 Flávio Bolsonaro met Donald Trump at the White House, and candidates on both sides invoked Trump in their campaigns; Lula's allies used the meeting for a sovereignty message.
Lula met Trump at the White House on May 7 for nearly three hours to discuss trade and to avert new US tariffs. Trump called him a good man. Lula asked Trump to end a US trade investigation involving Brazil's Pix payment system. Brazil's ambassador to the US warned of new tariffs afterwards.
Lula also faced setbacks in Congress. After the Senate rejected his Supreme Court nominee, Messias, Lula kept Jaques Wagner as government leader in the Senate and worked to soothe Senate President Davi Alcolumbre. On May 21 Congress overrode his veto on budget rules, a move that could increase spending before the election, and the Liberal Party filed a complaint against Lula over alleged use of government machinery for electoral purposes. On May 28 the Chamber of Deputies approved the end of the six-day work week; Speaker Hugo Motta had agreed to a standard week of between 40 and 42 hours.
Congress also passed a law reducing Jair Bolsonaro's sentence for the coup plot. On May 9 Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended it pending a constitutional review, and Bolsonaro's defense filed a criminal review with the Supreme Court. The court later suspended a vote on changes to the Clean Record Law, which governs electoral eligibility.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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