US-Brazil relations slid into crisis Monday after President Donald Trump criticized the high-profile coup trial of his right-wing ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump accused Brazilian authorities of carrying out a “WITCH HUNT” against the 70-year-old firebrand, warning they should “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE.”

His comments drew a quick and sharp rebuke.

Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva set diplomatic niceties aside and hit back at Trump’s “interference,” adding that “no one is above the law.”

Bolsonaro is facing trial, accused of leading a “criminal organization” that plotted a coup to keep him in power after his 2022 election loss.

He faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty. According to prosecutors, the alleged coup plot failed due to a lack of support from the military high command.

The case carries echoes of Trump’s prosecution over the January 6, 2021, attacks, when his supporters overran the US Congress to try to reverse his election loss.

Trump pleaded not guilty, and the case was abandoned when he was reelected president — giving him immunity from prosecution.

Bolsonaro has similarly protested his innocence, while trying to rally supporters with a series of protests that have further polarized Brazilian politics.

Repercussions
The cases have drawn the Trump and Bolsonaro families together, with the Brazilian ex-leader’s sons lobbying hard to have a Supreme Court judge hit with US sanctions and for Trump to weigh in.

That effort now appears to have succeeded, with unclear repercussions for relations between the largest economies in North and South America.

Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo praised Trump’s post and said it “would not be the only news coming from the United States in the near future.”

Trump addressed the case at length in a social media post and suggested Bolsonaro was the favorite in next year’s election — despite being banned from running because he spread misinformation about the voting system.

“I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!” Trump said in the Truth Social post.

“It happened to me, times 10,” Trump said. “I have gotten to know Jair Bolsonaro, and he was a strong Leader, who truly loved his Country — Also, a very tough negotiator on TRADE,” Trump said.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro claims to be the victim of political persecution.

Bolsonaro senior thanked Trump for his support and his defense of “peace, justice and liberty” in a social media post.

Trump’s comments came as Lula hosted representatives from China, Russia, Iran, and other nations for a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Leaders attending the summit criticized Trump’s tariffs and his bombing of Iran, drawing the US president’s ire and a threat of 10 percent additional tariffs on each BRICS-aligned country.

In a sign of how fraught US-Brazil ties are, Lula insisted BRICS members were independent and did not want an “emperor.”

AFP

BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy.

Emerging nations, which represent about half the world’s population and 40 per cent of global economic output, have united over “serious concerns” about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP on Saturday.

Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties.

His latest salvo comes in the form of letters informing trading partners of new tariff rates that will soon enter into force.

The draft summit declaration does not mention the United States or its president by name, and could yet be amended by leaders gathering for talks Sunday and Monday.

But it is a clear political shot directed at Washington from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules,” the draft text says.

It warns that such measures “threaten to further reduce global trade” and are “affecting the prospects for global economic development.”

Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power.

But the summit’s political punch will be depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.

That absence has prompted fevered speculation in some quarters.

“The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing,” said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank.

The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee.

War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay away, but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.

Hass said Putin’s non-attendance and the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a guest of honour in Brazil could also be factors in Xi’s absence.

“Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi,” who will receive a state lunch, he said.

“I expect Xi’s decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors.”

Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage.

In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit, and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run.

Lula warmly welcomed leaders and dignitaries on Saturday, including China’s Premier Li Qiang, as the leftist president hosted a pre-summit business forum in Rio.

Rescuers searched on Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating floods that killed 50 people in the US state.

Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place across central Texas after water surged through communities, with the Guadalupe River rising by 26 feet (eight meters) in just 45 minutes.

The Kerr County summer camp, where hundreds were staying, was left in disarray, with blankets, teddy bears, and other belongings caked in mud.

“We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased, we have 28 adults and 15 children,” said Larry Leitha, the sheriff of the flood-ravaged region.

Multiple victims were also found in other counties, bringing the death toll to 50.

Texas Department of Emergency Management’s chief, Nim Kidd, said air, ground, and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.

“We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found,” he said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and requesting additional federal resources from President Donald Trump.

The flooding began Friday — the start of the July 4 holiday weekend — as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations”.

In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.

“The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so. Cars, whole houses were going down the river,” said resident Gerardo Martinez, 61.

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.

But scientists say that in recent years, human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves more frequent and more intense.

On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from Camp Mystic in flooded Kerr County were still missing.

Around 750 girls were attending the camp along the banks of the Guadalupe.

US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families.

The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.

Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.

“I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it,” he said, adding that he was hoping for a “miracle”.

The obituary section of the Kerrville community news site was dotted with tributes to victims, including Camp Mystic’s owner and director Dick Eastland.

The director of Heart O’ The Hills summer camp, located about a mile from Camp Mystic, Jane Ragsdale, was also confirmed dead.

Elsewhere in Texas, four people were confirmed dead in Travis County, northeast of Kerr, and 13 people were missing, public information office director Hector Nieto told AFP.

A 62-year-old woman’s body was found in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County, along the Concho River, police said.

Two more people died in Burnet County, the area’s emergency management coordinator, Derek Marchio, told AFP, bringing the state-wide death toll to 50.

Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem said Trump wanted to “upgrade the technologies” at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“We need to renew this ancient system,” Noem told a press conference.

Scientists and disaster management agencies have criticised Trump for cutting funding and staffing at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS.

When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning of the floods, Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government”.

Officials and residents alike were shocked by the speed and intensity of the flooding.

“We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Rob Kelly said on Friday.

“The predictions were definitely off,” and the rain was “double of what was anticipated,” Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said.

Rice added that rescuers were facing “very difficult” conditions, and declined to give an overall figure for how many were missing.

Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.

“It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this,” Reyna said.

“Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses… It’s just crazy,” she added.



AFP