The US has revoked the Brazil ambassador visa, a move that deepens the diplomatic rift between Washington and Brasilia as Brazil heads toward elections. A State Department official confirmed the action, saying it is part of a broader escalation in US-Brazil tensions.
The decision followed Brazil’s refusal to grant visas to two State Department officials who had planned to travel to Brazil at the end of July. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused those officials of trying to meddle in Brazil’s elections, while the US dismissed that charge as baseless. The American official said the visa revocation does not amount to expelling Brazil’s ambassador from the United States.
The latest clash is not an isolated episode. Relations between the two governments have grown more strained in recent months after the US reimposed tariffs on Brazil and designated Brazilian gangs as terrorist organisations. Those moves added pressure to an already tense relationship and widened the fight beyond election issues alone.
The two State Department officials were scheduled to visit Brazil in late July for discussions they said would touch on freedom of expression, religion and election integrity. They were also expected to meet Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-wing candidate and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the last election.
Flávio Bolsonaro has drawn international attention of his own. A few weeks ago, he told a room of diplomats that Brazil’s voting machines share the same origin as Venezuela’s and referred to a CIA report on fraud in that country. He later denied questioning Brazil’s electoral system, saying instead that he wanted as many international observers as possible.
