Lula says Trump must 'stay out' of Brazil elections

SAO PAULO, June 17 - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump has the right to have an electoral preference in Brazil, but warned his U.S. counterpart to "stay out" of this year's elections.

Lula, who intends to run for reelection in October's vote, made the comments shortly after Trump told reporters that Brazil has become a "little rough" and "dangerous politically."

"They play pretty tough, but nobody plays tougher than the United States," Trump said.

The jabs were the latest back-and-forth in the up-and-down relationship between the two leaders, who were both in Switzerland on Wednesday for the last day of the G7 summit.

Lula's main challenger in polls is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of Trump ally and Brazil's ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, who is living under house arrest after he was convicted last year of plotting a coup after the 2022 election.

The U.S. president met with Senator Bolsonaro last month, alongside his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker living in the United States. Trump had met with Lula just a few weeks earlier.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been working to gather international support for his family, was convicted on Tuesday by Brazil's Supreme Court of courting interference from the Trump administration in his father's trial last year, which he denies.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Eduardo Bolsonaro's conviction was part of a "pattern of persecution and lawfare by the Brazilian courts against their political opposition."

The spokesperson added that "political debates should be settled by democratic elections, not by convictions." REUTERS