Newspapers and news agencies from several countries reported this Thursday (12) and this Friday (13) the Lula government’s decision to bar the entry into Brazil of Darren Beattie, advisor on matters relating to the country in President Donald Trump’s government, and also the decision of Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Alexandre de Moraes to prevent him from visiting former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Beattie’s trip to Brazil had been previously confirmed by the State Department itself, which informed, in a note to People’s Gazettethat Trump’s advisor would come to the country to “advance the America First foreign policy agenda” and participate in official engagements.
The newspaper The Washington Post highlighted that Lula ordered the revocation of the visa as a “reciprocity measure” after Brazilian authorities had visas restricted by the United States last year. The newspaper cited that Lula stated that the decision is linked to the blocking of the visa of the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, and his family members, which occurred during a diplomatic dispute involving a program to send Cuban doctors abroad.
In turn, the agency Associated Press (AP) highlighted that the ban occurred after Minister Moraes denied authorization for Beattie to visit Bolsonaro in Brasília. The agency cited the minister’s decision that the meeting was not part of the diplomatic context informed in the visa application and could represent “interference in the country’s internal affairs”, a position supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The British agency Reuters highlighted that Chancellor Mauro Vieira informed the STF that Trump’s advisor had requested a visa to participate in a forum on critical minerals and meetings with authorities, without mentioning the intention to visit Bolsonaro. The agency also reported that Itamaraty assessed that the visit of a foreign official to a former president who is in prison, in an election year, could be “interpreted as political interference”.
I and Bloomberg highlighted that the case still occurs in the midst of a sensitive moment in relations between Brasília and Washington, after last year’s sanctions and tariffs, despite attempts at rapprochement between Lula and Trump. The agency noted that Beattie is directly involved in American policy towards Brazil, which increases the diplomatic weight of the episode and could provoke new friction between the two countries.
The British newspaper The Guardian reported that Lula classified the measure as retaliation for the blocking of visas of Brazilian authorities by the United States and recalled that Trump’s advisor will only be able to enter the country when the restrictions against Minister Padilha are lifted. The newspaper also highlighted that the episode once again exposes persistent friction between the Lula and Trump governments, even after “recent signs of improvement in bilateral dialogue”.
