Trump administration revokes visa of Brazil's ambassador to US in spat with Lula
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 the country ahead of upcoming elections as well as 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 Inácio 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.
"Reciprocity is the name of the game," one State Department official said.
Despite the revocation of her visa, Brazil's ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is not being expelled from the United States, said the official, who like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic matter. 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. The official said indications are that Brazil will not do that until after the October election.
In addition to stalling on Perez, Brazil denied visas last month for Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, and one if 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 go to 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".
Lula will face Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father once served as Brazil's president and whose family has many ties with the Trump administration, in the October 4 polls. The administration has numerous issues with the leftist Lula and his policies and has also hosted the younger Bolsonaro, who is seeking to carry on his father's, Jair's, conservative governance.
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.
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.
His son, 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.
