Photo credit: AP News
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it denied visas to two US officials who sought to travel to the country next week, in the latest political barb between the two countries.
The Associated Press reports that the move became public after The Washington Post revealed the names of the officials as Riley M. Barnes, an assistant secretary, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant
A spokesperson for Brazil’s foreign office said Barnes and Samson requested visas on July 20, and they were denied on Friday. He did not disclose the reasons behind the decision.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will bid for reelection against Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, whose family has many ties with the Trump administration.
Sen. Bolsonaro and his brother, Eduardo, visited US officials in Washington, including US President Donald Trump, in late May. Shortly afterwards, the Trump administration classified Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking group – First Command Capital and Red Command – as foreign terrorist organizations, a move Lula opposed.
The Trump administration also imposed an up to 37.5% tariff 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.
The US State Department said Barnes and Samson planned to go to Brasilia July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about “election integrity,” religious freedom and freedom of expression. The department called it a routine visit and said that “any insinuation of a ploy to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.”
