US excluded from democracy meeting hosted by Brazil, Chile, Spain at UN, sources say

Brasilia: The United States was not invited to a meeting to discuss the state of global democracy, which is being organized by Brazil, Chile, and Spain on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, two people involved in arranging the event told Reuters.

In 2024, under the administration of President Joe Biden, the United States was invited to the meeting, but “the world has gotten so much worse since last year that there are people who cannot be invited anymore”, one of the sources said.

President Donald Trump's attacks on Brazil over the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, convicted this month for plotting a coup, also influenced the decision to exclude the US from the event, one of the sources said. In retaliation for what he described as a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro, a close ally, Trump imposed steep tariffs on Brazilian imports and sanctioned the Supreme Court justice overseeing the case, Alexandre de Moraes.

“It is not possible to invite those who question our democracy and our institutions,” one of the sources said.

On Monday, the US government announced new sanctions, this time against Viviane Barci de Moraes, Justice Moraes's wife, and her law firm. The US also suspended the visas of other members of Brazil's judiciary and its solicitor general, Jorge Messias.

The meeting, called "In Defense of Democracy and Against Extremism", will take place on Wednesday morning on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, 12 heads of state had already confirmed attendance, most of them from Latin America. Colombia and Uruguay are also helping organize the meeting this year.