Brazil has denied visa requests for two Trump administration officials who planned to travel to the country to cast doubt on the integrity of its electoral system, two Brazilian officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the U.S. plan represented an attempt to shape Brazil’s October presidential election.
Brazil denied the request for visas to the U.S. delegation, which would have included Assistant Secretary Riley M. Barnes from the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and also Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary, the Brazilian officials said.
The rejection was based on "evidence pointing to a renewed attempt to politically exploit the situation and undermine the electoral system", one of the officials said.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, also did not respond on Saturday to a request for comment.
The U.S. plan was first reported by the Washington Post and then confirmed by Reuters.
Renewed debate over Brazil’s electoral system
Former President Bolsonaro repeatedly sought to undermine confidence in Brazil’s electoral system before the 2022 election.
At the time, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director, under former President Joe Biden, told the Bolsonaro administration to stop casting doubt on Brazil's voting system.
Still, in the months before the 2022 vote, which Lula ultimately won, Bolsonaro had convened foreign diplomats to present unsubstantiated allegations that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, which oversees elections, later ruled that Bolsonaro had abused his position and barred him from seeking public office until 2030.
Bolsonaro was later convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting to overturn the election result and remain in power. He is serving the sentence under house arrest.
Now, as Brazil heads toward a new election cycle, Senator Bolsonaro has reignited doubts over the country's electoral system, which have been spreading through social media.
Speaking at an event attended by dozens of diplomats last week, the senator urged foreign governments to send observers to monitor Brazil’s elections.
At the same event, the younger Bolsonaro claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting machines were produced by Smartmatic, the company that U.S. authorities have linked to electoral manipulation allegations in Venezuela.
Smartmatic and Brazil’s electoral court both told Reuters that no Brazilian voting machines were supplied by the company.
Elon Musk was not on the ballot in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, but he emerged as one of the biggest losers after Democrats swept to vic...
Uzbekistan has launched 145 investment projects worth $7.8 billion in its Bukhara region, aiming to create more than 14,000 jobs, boost industrial ...
Kazakhstan plans to manufacture 494 types of medicines through eight major investment projects worth a combined $862 million, Health Minister Akmar...
From international reporting and investigative documentaries to global forums and digital innovation, AnewZ marks two years of connecting Azerbaijan and the wider world.
Democrats captured majorities in both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories that reached into Republican strongholds, with millions of voters delivering a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump.
Democrat wins surged on Tuesday across the United States with stunning victories in the South Carolina, Texas and Ohio senate races -- traditionally Republican strongholds -- in the 3 November midterm elections.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Washington will end its annual financial and military aid to Israel by the end of 2026, under an agreement he claims to have reached with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says the U.S. must act to prevent war after Tehran sent a “strong and rational response” to Washington. Meanwhile, U.S. forces have reportedly carried out limited strikes against Iranian targets, including Qeshm Island,
Elon Musk was not on the ballot in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, but he emerged as one of the biggest losers after Democrats swept to victory, threatening his political influence and exposing his business empire to greater scrutiny.
Montenegro has moved a step closer to becoming the European Union's next member, with Brussels signalling that the Balkan country could join by 2028, ending more than a decade without EU enlargement.
Thousands of protesters, including students and artists, marched through Prague and other Czech cities on Tuesday as public television and radio workers staged a one-day strike over government plans to cut funding and bring the broadcasters under state budget control.
As oil prices surge amid conflict in the Gulf, energy leaders at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi are confronting two major challenges: securing global supplies and meeting soaring electricity demand from artificial intelligence.
North Korea fired multiple missiles into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea's Defence Ministry said, in Pyongyang's fourth weapons launch in a month.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment