Brazil-US tensions deepen as Lula rebukes visa move

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticised the United States after Washington revoked the visa of Brazil's ambassador to the United States, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, in a widening diplomatic dispute before Brazil's October presidential election.

Lula called the Trump administration's decision “irresponsible and ill-advised” in an interview with Meteoro Brasil on Wednesday. “We cannot accept interference,” he said.

A US State Department official said Tuesday that the revocation would be reversed if Brazil approved President Donald Trump's nominee, Daniel Perez, to serve as US ambassador in Brasilia. Trump nominated Perez, a prominent Florida Republican, in early June. The nomination still requires confirmation by the US Senate, and Perez cannot take up the post until Brazil gives approval.

Lula said that, with elections approaching, he was not receiving new ambassadors from any country. He also accused Washington of waiting too long to appoint an ambassador to Brazil.

“The United States doesn't attach importance to the embassy in Brazil,” Lula said. “Trump has been in office for a year and a half, yet he hasn't sent an ambassador here. So, they try to send one and think we are obligated to accommodate them on the date they want?”

Lula also defended Brazil's denial of visas last month to two US officials. A US State Department spokesperson had said the officials wanted to visit Brasilia to discuss “election integrity, religious freedom and freedom of expression” with government officials, religious leaders and others, and rejected any suggestion that the visit was meant to undermine Brazil's election.

Lula said the officials were coming to “meddle in, monitor, and investigate Brazil's voting machines.” Brazil's visa denial came after right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro renewed debunked claims made by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, that Brazil's electronic voting system was insecure.

The diplomatic dispute with Washington comes alongside a separate deterioration in Brazil's ties with Argentina. Brazil has recalled its ambassador and downgraded diplomatic relations with Buenos Aires after repeated insults from Argentine President Javier Milei against Lula, according to a Brazilian Foreign Ministry source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Foreign Ministry source said Wednesday that the decision would remain in effect as long as Milei's “attacks on Brazilian democratic institutions persist.”

Milei, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, attended a July event launching Flavio Bolsonaro's presidential bid and later called Lula “a thief” and “corrupt” in an interview broadcast Sunday on Argentine television.

Lula spent 580 days in jail beginning in April 2018 after being convicted in the Operation Car Wash anti-corruption probe. He was freed after his conviction was overturned on procedural grounds, and the presiding judge was later ruled to have been biased. Lula returned to the presidency in 2023.

Jair Bolsonaro, 71, is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election. His eldest son, Flavio Bolsonaro, is running for the presidency in October.