The Trump administration decided to cancel the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States, María Luisa Viotti, as a measure of reciprocity after the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delayed the formal approval of the ambassador appointed by the Donald Trump administration for Brasilia, Daniel Pérez.
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The State Department also said that Brazil denied visas to several U.S. diplomats.
A senior official explained to journalists, however, that the ambassador’s visa will be reinstated if the situation is resolved. “The measure consisted of revoking or canceling the visa of a high-ranking diplomat. This does not amount to expelling her from the country. It means that she is here, but without a visa, and that it would be reinstated if the situation is resolved through the approval of our ambassador candidate,” the official explained, on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confronted the Lula government on several occasions. Shortly after the U.S. Trade Representative announced new tariffs against Brazil, he posted on social media that “President Lula and his government did not negotiate in good faith with the United States.”
“Their economic policies are bad for Americans and bad for Brazilians. Last year, Lula put his own ego ahead of the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price he pays for it,” Rubio said.
Months earlier, he had included Brazil on the list of countries that are not friends of the United States.
“The United States requested authorization from Brazil to appoint Pérez one month after the White House made his nomination public. By acting this way, they broke with the traditional practice, according to which the country sending the candidate consults beforehand with the host country and waits for its response before formalizing the nomination,” Folha de Sao Paulo indicated.
The gesture caused concern at the Planalto Palace. Members of Lula’s government stated – the newspaper reported – that there is no rush to grant the agreement, since, in their view, Washington chose to announce the name before completing the procedures normally followed in these cases.
Behind the justification put forward by Lula’s allies lies the fear that Pérez will play a political role during the October presidential elections.
Pérez’s nomination was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and should be presented to the full Senate later this week.
At the end of July, the State Department tried to send two members of its team to Brazil to address issues such as freedom of expression and the electoral process. The case was revealed by The Washington Post.
