He has already called Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Alexandre de Moraes “the main architect of the censorship and persecution complex” against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently in prison. Now, Darren Beattie has been chosen by President Donald Trump’s government to serve as senior advisor responsible for issues related to Brazil within the United States Department of State.
The information was confirmed by the agency Reuters this Friday (27), which cited a senior State Department official to declare that Beattie currently occupies this position of trust. According to the British agency’s publication, three sources with knowledge of Beattie’s appointment said he recently assumed this role.
The new position places Beattie in a strategic position in the formulation and coordination of diplomatic directives involving Brazil. Although the State Department did not detail the exact scope of the position, the role of senior advisor in the US normally involves direct advice to the department’s leadership, internal coordination between different offices and political monitoring of sensitive topics in the bilateral relationship.
The advisor has a degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in political theory from Duke University in North Carolina. Before taking on positions in the US government, Beattie served as a visiting professor and speechwriter at the White House during Trump’s first term, until he left the role in 2018. During Trump’s first term, Beattie was appointed to the US Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad. The advisor is also the founder of the conservative news portal Revolver News.
Beattie is close to the Bolsonaros, having even met last year with former federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, in the United States. He was also one of the main defenders of the sanctions imposed by the United States against Minister Moraes last year, when he held the position of acting undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. At the time, after the Trump administration applied punishments based on the Magnitsky Law against Moraes, Beattie published on the social network
In another publication, on Brazil’s Independence Day, he wrote that the United States would continue to “take appropriate measures” against Moraes and against “individuals whose abuses of authority undermined these fundamental freedoms.” When President Trump sent a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva mentioning the possibility of imposing 50% tariffs on Brazilian products, Beattie stated that the attacks against Jair Bolsonaro represented “affronts to freedom of expression and American commerce”, adding that the US government was “closely monitoring” the situation in Brazil.
Beattie has held several important roles in the current Trump administration. He assumed the role of acting undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in February last year. He also served as acting undersecretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs. In October last year, he was promoted to the position of head of the Office of Educational and Cultural Affairs, a role that he must carry out in parallel with matters relating to Brazil.
Beattie’s appointment as advisor for matters related to Brazil signals that the White House intends to maintain special attention to the Brazilian political scene, especially on issues related to freedom of expression and judicial decisions involving conservative allies in the country.
