Brazil in July 2026: the most important developments in politics
Brazil in July 2026 was dominated by the launch of Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign and a diplomatic row with Argentina. On July 25 Senator Bolsonaro secured his party's nomination at a Liberal Party convention in São Paulo, with Argentine President Javier Milei attending. In his speech Milei called President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a "thief," "convict" and "socialist trash" and insulted Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Lula's allies condemned the remarks. On July 27 Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations. Lula asked "Who is that guy?", and Argentina refused to apologize. By July 29 Brazil said it would monitor the climate before deciding when to send the ambassador back, while Argentine Foreign Minister Quirno said there was no chance of breaking relations.
The campaign itself faced difficulties. Flávio Bolsonaro repeated claims about electronic voting machines, which the Superior Electoral Court publicly contradicted, and Liberal Party leaders urged him to stop. The Progressive Party said it would stay neutral and later rejected an alliance. A BTG/Nexus poll gave Lula 47% and Bolsonaro 43% in a hypothetical run-off. Former President Jair Bolsonaro remained under house arrest. A judge denied Milei's request to visit him on July 18, and on July 29 Moraes gave him 48 hours to explain whether he authorized an AI-generated video shown at the convention, warning he could be sent back to prison.
Relations with the United States worsened after Washington imposed new tariffs on Brazilian goods. Lula said Brazil would not withdraw from trade talks, and on July 28 the government filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Brazil denied visas to US officials, citing fears of meddling in the election, and on July 26 Lula told Trump that "no one will defeat us through lies." On July 27 Lula also held phone talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
On the government side, Patrus Ananias accepted Lula's invitation to run for governor of Minas Gerais, and Fernando Haddad announced his candidacy for governor of São Paulo.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.