The elected vice president of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, has responded to the recent statements of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in which he questioned the integrity of the Brazilian presidential elections. Alckmin has labeled these claims as "totally wrong" and reminded the American leader that "one does not interfere in the politics of another country."
"It is a basic rule. Secondly, there is no basis to say that. In fact, Brazil is an example for the world. Of electronic voting, of legal security," Alckmin asserted during an interview granted to the Brazilian network Rede Vanguarda. In this vein, the leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) has claimed the full normality of the country's democratic system. "You win elections, you lose elections, it is the people who decide," he emphasized.
The response from the 'number two' of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came just hours after Trump declared to the media that the Brazilian elections seemed to him "another electoral fraud." Although the occupant of the White House insisted that he had not aligned with any candidate and reiterated that he gets along "very well" with Lula, he questioned the conduct of the voting and described the two-hour extension decreed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for the closing of the polls as "very strange."
Despite this diplomatic disagreement, Alckmin has tried to tone down the controversy and has emphasized that, once the electoral cycle is over, the future Brazilian Executive will maintain "negotiations with the United States to have a good" trade agreement. At the same time, he has highlighted the dynamism of Brazilian exports and the opening of new international markets driven through Mercosur.