Brazil has denied visa requests for two officials from US President Donald Trump's administration who planned to travel to the country to cast doubt on the integrity of its electoral system, Reuters reported, citing two Brazilian officials.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the US plan was an attempt to influence Brazil's presidential election in October. Leftist Senator Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face rightist Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a Trump ally and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost the last election to Lula.
On Friday, Brazil denied visas to a U.S. delegation that would have included Assistant Secretary Riley M. Barnes of the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary, Brazilian officials said.
The denial was based on "evidence pointing to a renewed attempt to politically exploit the situation and undermine the electoral system," one of the officials said.
Later on Saturday, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Barnes and Samson would visit Brazil from July 27 to 30 to meet with government officials, religious leaders and civil society representatives to discuss the integrity of the elections, religious freedom and freedom of expression.
The spokesman rejected any suggestion of "tactics" to undermine the elections in Brazil, calling such allegations "baseless" and described the visit as routine and in accordance with the legal mandate of the Office for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Flavio Bolsonaro did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
The US plan was first reported by the Washington Post and later confirmed by "Reuters".
The Trump administration has been trying to influence political contests in Latin America. His recent "full and absolute support" for the newly elected Colombian president, Abelardo De La Espriella, followed by support for leaders including Argentine President Javier Milley and Chilean President José Antonio Cast.
Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain and far-right supporter, has repeatedly tried to undermine confidence in Brazil’s electoral system ahead of the 2022 election, echoing tactics used by Trump in the United States.
At the time, the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, under former President Joe Biden, told Bolsonaro’s administration to stop casting doubt on Brazil’s electoral system.
However, in the months leading up to the 2022 vote, which Lula ultimately won, Bolsonaro summoned foreign diplomats to make unsubstantiated claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
His campaign backfired. against him. Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court, which oversaw the election, later ruled that Bolsonaro had abused his position and banned him from running for public office until 2030.
Bolsonaro was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for conspiring to overturn the election results and stay in power. He is serving his sentence under house arrest.
Now, Flavio Bolsonaro has reignited doubts about the country’s electoral system that have been spreading on social media.
Speaking at an event attended by dozens of diplomats last week, the senator called on foreign governments to send observers to monitor Brazil’s elections.
At the same event, the younger Bolsonaro said that Brazil’s electronic voting machines were manufactured by Smartmatic, the company that U.S. authorities have linked to allegations of election rigging in Venezuela.
Smartmatic and Brazil’s electoral court told Reuters that the company had not supplied Brazilian voting machines.
The senator also said in a statement at the event that he had not questioned “the integrity of Brazil’s electoral system.”