The United States has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador in Washington, deepening an already bitter dispute after Brasília withheld formal approval for a new US envoy and refused visas to two American diplomats, a senior US State Department official said yesterday.
The decision represents a sharp escalation between President Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The dispute has strained trade ties and emerged as a prominent issue in Brazil’s October presidential election.
Brazil denounced Washington’s decision to revoke the visa of its ambassador, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti.
“Today’s decision is not an isolated incident. It is part of a deliberate escalation of hostile measures against Brazil, motivated by ideological reasons,” the office of President Lula da Silva said in a statement.
Brasília has held up formal approval for Daniel Perez, a Florida state representative whom Mr Trump nominated as ambassador on 1 June.
In a statement issued yesterday, Brazil’s government rejected the US action, calling the claims behind it “false” and saying its review of Mr Perez’s nomination was proceeding according to international diplomatic norms.
Brazil also refused visas last month to two officials from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
The government defended that decision, saying the officials’ planned visit appeared intended to cast doubt on Brazil’s electoral system and amounted to an “unacceptable attempt to interfere in the national political process”.
Recent polls have placed Mr da Silva ahead of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in the presidential race. Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a sentence under house arrest for plotting a 2022 coup.
Officials in the Trump administration have accused Brazil’s government of censoring conservatives and treating them unfairly in judicial proceedings. Brazilian authorities, in turn, have rejected what they view as US attempts to shape Latin American politics in favor of conservative forces.
Last month, Washington imposed a 25% tariff on several Brazilian products, citing what it called unfair trade practices. Mr da Silva swiftly accused the Bolsonaro family of helping secure the tariffs to improve its electoral prospects, a charge the family denies.
