Lula government denies visas to two Trump officials: US sought meeting with Brazilian electoral authorities ahead of presidential vote

The administration of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva denied entry visas to two senior State Department officials who had planned to travel to Brazil next week to meet with election officials, according to Brazilian and U.S. diplomatic sources who spoke to various U.S. and international media outlets.

The visas were denied to Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary, and Samuel Samson, deputy assistant secretary—both officials appointed by the administration of Donald Trump. According to a Brazilian diplomatic source cited by the AFP news agency, the denial was due to a "risk of political exploitation" of the visit, less than three months before the October presidential election.

Brasília's rationale

According to The New York Times, in the visa application—submitted on Monday—the U.S. officials reportedly indicated that they sought to discuss Brazil's voting system with election authorities, as well as potential restrictions on freedom of expression ahead of the elections. In addition, Barnes and Samson had also planned to meet with Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro—who is in prison for attempting a coup—and the current right-wing presidential candidate running against the ruling party's Lula.

According to what Brazilian officials told the press, the visa application was submitted just days after Flávio Bolsonaro had questioned, in a private meeting with foreign diplomats, the reliability of Brazil's electronic voting system, using arguments similar to those that led to his father's political disqualification in 2023. This coincidence of dates was what led Brazilian authorities to suspect that the visit by U.S. officials was not intended solely for informational purposes.

Washington's version

Although the State Department has not yet responded immediately to requests for comment from the press, the case file, was first reported by The Washington Post, which cited anonymous sources stating that the envoys' objective was to meet with critics of the Brazilian electoral system to prepare a report. The State Department confirmed to that newspaper that Barnes and Samson had planned to travel to Brasília, though it declined to specify the official purpose of the mission.

Rising bilateral tensions

The visa denial comes on the heels of several weeks of friction between the two governments, marked by the imposition of two rounds of U.S. tariffs on Brazilian products this month and by differences regarding the legal proceedings against Jair Bolsonaro and his family. Lula has accused Flávio Bolsonaro of being a "traitor to the nation" for encouraging Washington's tariffs, a claim the candidate denies.

Trump, a political ally of Jair Bolsonaro during his presidency, had already attempted last year to pressure Brazil—through tariffs and sanctions—to get Lula's government to ease up on its attacks against U.S. companies and businesspeople, which the White House considers coercive measures contrary to freedom of speech. Many also saw it as a way to pressure Brasília into dropping the case against the right-wing leader. Despite everything, Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for health reasons.

This is the second such incident this year. In March, the Brazilian government blocked the entry of another Trump envoy after it became known that he planned to meet secretly with the imprisoned former president and his son.