Bolsonaro supporters pray for Trump rescue as coup plot trial verdict nears

Source: The Guardian

Bolsonaro supporters pray for Trump rescue as coup plot trial verdict nears

Far-right ex-president’s devotees pin hopes on pressure campaign but tariffs and sanctions appear likely to fail

Tom Phillips in Brasília
Sat 9 Aug 2025 10.00 BST
Last modified on Sat 9 Aug 2025 10.01 BST

Each morning, Edite Costa steps out of her bungalow on Brasília’s sun-baked savannah, stands beneath a mango tree and lifts her hands to the sky in prayer. “I ask God to work so that not just Trump but all Americans come to help us rip out the evil that has taken hold of the country I love,” said the 66-year-old Baptist, who is a fervent supporter of Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro could face decades in jail for allegedly leading a murderous conspiracy to seize power after his leftwing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat him in the 2022 presidential election. But Costa believes her populist leader can still be saved – if her prayers are answered and Donald Trump intervenes.

“I believe in God and I believe God will touch Donald Trump’s heart and that he will help us,” Costa proclaimed as she stood in her garden clutching the American flag she waves at pro-Bolsonaro rallies. “I’m convinced God has chosen him as a liberator,” she says of the US president. “And I believe God will empower him – and all Americans – so they come to love and liberate my land.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/09/bolsonaro-supporters-pray-for-trump-rescue-coup-plot-trial-brazil