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 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 Mr. 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.

Mr. Trump has had a fractious relationship for some time with Mr. 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 Mr. Trump’s fondness forMr. Lula’s first term successor and then predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, and his son Flávio, who is Lula’s main opponent in the election.

Mr. Lula has spared Mr. 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 Mr. Trump’s choice of former Florida House speaker Danny Perez to be U.S. Ambassador to Brazil. Mr. 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.

Mr. 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 U.S. should have asked for consent to send Mr. Perez in private, as established by the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, before the nomination was made public. It added the U.S. 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 (August 4, 2026) 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 Mr. 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 (August 4, 2026), also under condition of anonymity, that the Lula administration is trying to figure out why the U.S. 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 Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

The Trump administration has taken other actions against Brazil

Mr. Lula, who is 80 and seeking his fourth term as Brazil’s President, will face Sen. Flávio 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 U.S. officials in Washington, includingMr. 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% tariff hike on thousands of Brazilian exports, which came into force on Friday. The U.S. 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 U.S. government.

Published – August 05, 2026 08:32 am IST

The Brazilian government has for weeks withheld the ‌formal diplomatic approval needed for the next U.S. ambassador to take up his post, angering U.S. officials and ​deepening a rift between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies.

The dispute could leave Washington without an ambassador ⁠in Brasilia ahead of Brazil’s October election, adding to bilateral tensions that have affected trade flows and resulted in accusations of interference in domestic affairs. Daniel Perez, a Florida state representative and close ally of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump on June 1. The ‌nomination occurred before the U.S. sought Brazil’s approval, a common diplomatic step known as “agrément,” said four people familiar with the matter.

Officials in Brasilia viewed that omission as a disrespectful breach of protocol, according to two officials who requested ‌anonymity to describe private diplomatic conversations. Mr. Perez’s nomination is awaiting a full Senate vote after passing committee last week, though he ‌will not be able to take up the post until Brazil approves.

In recent days, some Trump officials have grown ⁠increasingly exasperated about what they interpret as Brazil’s slow-walking, according to two of the sources. One of the people added, without elaborating, that the administration may take punitive action against Brazil as soon as Friday if the matter is not resolved.

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist, has long had a ​tense relationship with Rubio’s State Department due to what ‌it sees as efforts to influence Latin American politics in favor of conservatives.

The Trump administration, conversely, has accused the Brazilian government of at times censoring conservatives or tilting the scales against them in judicial proceedings.

Asked about Brazil’s delay in granting agrément for Mr. Perez, a State Department spokesperson said:

“President Trump has the right to determine who represents the American people and interests around ‌the world. President Trump is assembling an America First diplomatic A-team across his administration, subject to the advice and consent ​of the Senate. We reject any effort by foreign countries to interfere in our domestic processes.”

Brazil is investigating Mr. Perez in keeping with standard procedure, two Brazilian officials said. One of them added that agrément will probably ⁠not be granted before Brazil’s election on October 4.

“We are not saying we won’t give the agrément, but there is no deadline,” one of the officials said. “It is up to the host country to decide when the appropriate time is.”

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said in a ‌statement that it would not comment on the matter “as the process is covered by the principle of confidentiality established in the Vienna Convention.”

Perez’s Florida House office did not respond to an email.

Tense relations, fraught election

National sovereignty has become a key rallying cry for Mr. Lula, as he seeks his fourth non-consecutive term in October’s election. His main opponent is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has sought to portray Mr. Trump as a key ally.

In June, the State Department designated two Brazilian organised crime groups as terrorist organisations, despite opposition from the Brazilian government. Washington imposed a 25% tariff this month on several Brazilian products, citing what it described as ‌unfair trade practices. Last week, it announced an additional 12.5% levy linked to concerns over forced labour. At an event on Wednesday (July 29, 2026), Mr. Lula said Brazil had ​denied visa requests for two Trump administration officials who, according to him, planned to travel to the country “to meddle in Brazil’s election,” confirming a Reuters report from last week. A U.S. State Department spokesperson at the time rejected ⁠any suggestion of a “ploy” to undermine Brazil’s elections.

“Trump sometimes seems to want to pick a fight with me. I don’t want a fight ⁠with him … I’m not stupid,” Mr. Lula said on Wednesday (July 29, 2026). “I want to defeat them in the battle of narratives.”

Polls show Mr. Lula with a slim but steady lead over Flavio Bolsonaro. At his committee hearing this month, Mr. Perez told senators that Brazil’s October ‌election would be an early priority if he is confirmed, saying that the U.S. should support conditions for free and fair elections while strengthening trade and security cooperation with Brasilia. “We do have a trade surplus with Brazil,” Mr. Perez said. “Nevertheless, there are ​some industries that have a significant gap,” referencing energy and agriculture.

Published – July 30, 2026 10:47 pm IST

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Just past midnight on November 22, Brazil’s monitoring system received an alert about tampering on Jair Bolsonaro’s ankle device he had been wearing under the terms of his house-arrest in Brasilia. When the police arrived, they found signs of forced opening of the monitor. Mr. Bolsonaro admitted to using a soldering iron, claiming he had a “nervous breakdown.”

By morning, Justice Alexandre de Moraes had revoked his house arrest, citing not only the breach but more evidence of a flight risk: his eldest son, Flavio, had called their supporters to hold a rally outside the house next morning; and the former President lived just 13 km from the U.S. embassy — after previously trying to flee to the Argentine embassy. Taken together, Justice Moraes wrote, these elements made “immediate incarceration unavoidable.”

It’s almost two weeks since the far-right leader was sent to prison to begin his 27-year sentence for the January 8 coup — a plot by Mr. Bolsonaro and a few military officials to overturn the results of 2022 election won by President Lula da Silva, but his absence has barely produced a ripple among his supporters. Last Sunday, a hundred people appeared for the “March for Freedom,” a planned show of strength that fizzled out as soon as it started. To make matters worse, the news cycle has been dominated by the Bolsonaro family’s infighting and deepening cracks across Brazil’s right-wing parties.

On Friday, Mr. Bolsonaro tried to regain the lost narrative as he anointed Mr. Flavio, a federal senator, as the presidential candidate of his Liberal Party (PL) for the 2026 presidential election. “It is with great responsibility that I confirm the decision of Brazil’s greatest political and moral leader, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, to give me the mission of continuing our national project,” said Mr. Flavio, adding that he “cannot, and will not, accept watching our country move toward instability, insecurity, and discouragement.” The party leadership rushed to bless the choice. “If Bolsonaro said it, it’s settled,” declared PL president Valdemar Costa.

While the party — adrift since the former President was convicted last year — has endorsed Mr. Bolsonaro’s plan for political survival, the markets delivered a different verdict.

Investors, who had hoped Sao Paulo governor Tarcisio de Freitas, a moderate, would be the right’s new leader, recoiled at the decision: within hours of Mr. Flavio’s announcement, the dollar jumped 2.31% and the stock market went down by 4.31%.

In Brasilia, the message was clear: the markets, much of the right and centrist parties, which can sway votes either way, do not want a future built on the former President’s last name.

The Bolsonaro name took some beating this week already as the family’s succession battle burst into open, pitting former first lady Michelle against her three stepsons — all politicians who claim their father’s legacy. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the middle son from his first wife and a federal deputy currently in self-imposed exile in the U.S., started the fire by declaring that Mr. Flavio was “more prepared” than Ms. Michelle, who also harbours ambition of running for President. Mr. Eduardo dismissed her rising stature and also mocked the São Paulo governor as “a centrist technocrat”. Ms. Michelle fired back with a pointed post: “I respect my stepchildren’s opinion, but I think differently”.

If Mr. Bolsonaro’s fall and the family infighting were not bad enough for the Brazilian right, the reaction from Washington has been devastating.

Asked about the arrest of his onetime ally, U.S. President Trump shrugged: “I don’t know anything about that. I did not hear.” Moments later, he offered a perfunctory “too bad” before boarding Marine One. Despite Mr. Eduardo’s months of lobbying — including pleas for sanctions against Brazil for “jailing his father” — Mr. Trump’s response signaled that the U.S. President has moved on.

The clearest sign that the mood in Washington has changed came on Tuesday, when Mr. Trump called Mr. Lula for a chat. According to Mr. Trump, the conversation focused on trade between the two countries and the sanctions imposed on Brazilian officials. “We had a very good conversation. I like him [Lula], very good. We had some good meetings but today we had a very good conversation,” Mr. Trump said. According to the Brazilian side, Mr. Lula praised Mr. Trump for recently removing 40% tariff on Brazilian coffee and beef.

According to sources in Brasilia, Mr. Trump’s softer tone towards Brazil could also be linked to a possible diplomatic solution to the Venezuelan crisis triggered by the U.S. muscle flexing in the Caribbeans. “President Lula is in the position of being able to speak credibly to both Caracas and Washington. He has warned against foreign interventions in the region but has also called for the need to find a diplomatic solution,” says a Brazilian Foreign Ministry official who is not authorised to speak on the matter. “With Trump now receptive to conversations with Brasilia, Lula can position Brazil as the channel through which both sides can speak without losing face.”

Washington may also have realised that Mr. Lula is sitting quite comfortably for the 2026 elections. Recent polls have shown that rejection of the Bolsonaro surname is very high. According to a latest survey, Mr. Lula leads Mr. Flavio by more than 20%. Mr. Flavio’s elevation as his father’s successor may have shored up the Bolsonaro clan internally, but electorally it hands Mr. Lula a big electoral advantage.

Mr. Bolsonaro — and, by extension, Brazil’s far-right — is facing a legal storm that has been gathering around his family for years. Already in jail, he also faces a police inquiry into his government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and corruption in health contracts between 2020 and 2022, a period during which more than 700,000 Brazilians died. On the day Bolsonaro was arrested, Brazilian social media erupted with the families of Covid-19 victims urging the country not to forget what they called the “crimes of the pandemic.”

Sitting in a cell, Mr. Bolsonaro might be plotting to revive his family’s political future by naming Mr. Flavio as successor, but Brazil is in no mood to forgive or forget his crimes.

Published – December 08, 2025 12:54 am IST