Brazilians fear US action in Brazil similar to that in Venezuela

According to the survey (see in full), another 40% say they do not have this fear, while 2% did not know or did not respond. The fear is greatest among voters who declare themselves Lulistas, a group in which 74% say they are afraid of action by the United States against Brazil. Among the allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), this percentage is also high and reaches 57%.

Quaest interviewed 2,004 people between January 8th and 11th. The margin of error is plus or minus two points and the confidence level is 95%.

Lula’s reaction

In Brazil, President Lula condemned the American initiative and stated that it was a “very serious affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and another extremely dangerous precedent for the international community”. When asked whether this reaction was correct, 51% of those interviewed said that the Brazilian government’s position was wrong, against 37% who considered the answer to be right, and 12% did not know or preferred not to answer.

Despite this contradiction to Lula’s position, 71% say this will not affect their vote in this year’s elections, against 17% who say they prefer the opposition and 7% the PT member himself. 5% did not know or preferred not to answer.

The survey also asked what Brazil’s stance should be towards the Trump administration, and the majority advocated caution. For 66%, the country should remain neutral, while 18% think that Brazil should support the actions of the United States and 10% defend open opposition.

Quaest also measured Brazilians’ opinion about the military operation in Caracas, which bombed parts of the capital and captured Maduro. According to the survey, 46% approve of the United States’ action, while 39% disapprove, and 15% did not know or did not respond.

“This approval comes from another perception, also a majority among Brazilians: 50% believe that it is acceptable for there to be interference in another country if the reason for the interference is the removal of a dictator from power. Another 41% disagreed with this”, added Felipe Nunes, CEO of Quaest.

After the United States’ action in Caracas, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez took command of Venezuela and negotiated with the Americans the opening of the country’s oil market to companies in the country under pressure from President Donald Trump. The nation neighboring Brazil has the largest oil reserves in the world.