Trump administration revokes visa of Brazil's ambassador to US in spat with Prez Lula

Washington: The Trump administration has revoked the visa of Brazil's ambassador to the United States in retaliation for Brazil's denial of visas last month for two American diplomats who sought to visit ahead of upcoming elections as well as what it said was Brazil's stalling on approving President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador in Brasilia.

The State Department said the decision was a reciprocal response to Brazil's actions, and officials said the step had been delayed several times to give Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva room to back down, something he did not do. Officials said, however, that it could be quickly reversed if Brazil takes appropriate action and accepts Trump's ambassadorial choice.

Brazil's government in a statement responded by accusing the United States of not following international law in nominating its ambassador to Brazil. It said the US government's decision to revoke the Brazilian ambassador's visa was politically driven with the aim of influencing Brazil's election in October.


Trump has had a fractious relationship for some time with Lula's administration, which has opposed him on numerous policies, particularly in the Western Hemisphere regarding Venezuela and Cuba. Their relationship also has been strained by Trump's fondness for Lula's first term successor and then predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, and his son Flavio, who is Lula's main opponent in the election.

Lula has spared Trump himself from criticism and claims they liked each other when they first met at the United Nations Assembly General in September of last year. The Brazilian leader has blamed Secretary of State Marco Rubio for some of the actions against his country.

Brazil's ambassador not being expelled

Despite the revocation of her visa, Brazil's ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is not being expelled from the United States, said one State Department official, who like several others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic matter. The ambassador was previously a senior United Nations official.

She could be allowed to resume her official duties if the Brazilian government accepts Trump's choice of former Florida House speaker Danny Perez to be US ambassador to Brazil. Perez was nominated to the post in June and the official said Brazil had signalled it would not act on the appointment until after the first round of Brazil's election on October 4.

Perez's nomination was submitted to the Senate on June 1. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on July 22 to send his nomination to the full Senate, where a vote was expected by the end of this week.

Brazil's government said the US should have asked for consent to send Perez in private, as established by the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, before the nomination was made public. It added the US government's request to send Perez is still "under analysis".

Brazil denied visas last month for Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, and one of his top aides after reports emerged that the pair were going to criticise Lula or the election process.

The State Department denied the allegations and said the two had planned to visit Brasilia on July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about "election integrity", religious freedom and freedom of expression.

It said the visit was routine and that "any insinuation of a ploy to undermine a democratic nation's election is a baseless lie".

The Brazilian government on Tuesday stood by its assessment, saying the two Americans "were planning to visit the country to cast doubts about the integrity of the Brazilian electoral system, in an unacceptable attempt to interfere in the national political process".

Last week, a top Brazilian diplomat told journalists the government was expecting a response from Rubio. The diplomat was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The same Brazilian diplomat told the AP on Tuesday, also under condition of anonymity, that the Lula administration is trying to figure out why the US government is rushing to have an ambassador in Brasilia only months before October's election. The post in the Brazilian capital has been vacant since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

The Trump administration has taken other actions against Brazil

Lula, who is 80 and seeking his fourth term as Brazil's president, will face Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father once served as Brazil's president and whose family has many ties with the Trump administration.

Sen. Bolsonaro and his brother, Eduardo, visited US officials in Washington, including Trump, in late May. Shortly afterward, the Trump administration classified Brazil's biggest drug-trafficking groups -- First Command Capital and Red Command -- as foreign terrorist organisations, a move Lula opposes.

The Trump administration also imposed an up to 37.5 per cent tariff hike on thousands of Brazilian exports, which came into force on Friday. The US government claims the South American nation has unfair competition practices and fails to stop forced-labour practices -- both accusations rejected by the Lula administration as an attempt to sway the election to Sen. Bolsonaro.

Brazil's government said Tuesday's decision was not an isolated incident.

"It forms part of a deliberate escalation of hostile measures against Brazil, driven by ideological motives that are incompatible with a bilateral partnership that has always been guided by mutual respect," the government statement said. "The improper intent to interfere in the forthcoming presidential election is also evident."

Jair Bolsonaro has for years fed concerns about the country's electronic voting system, without providing any evidence for his claims. He is now serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for an attempted coup. He has long insisted that the machines, used for a quarter-century, are prone to fraud.

Sen. Bolsonaro has recently repeated some of these claims, although he steered clear of those on Saturday when his Liberal Party confirmed him as a presidential candidate in Sao Paulo.

Brazil's government said it "has spared no effort to resolve these differences" with the US government.