Reports on Tuesday indicated the government of Brazil is concerned the administration of President Donald Trump would fail to offer visas to members of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s entourage for the United Nations General Assembly and may limit the number of people going.
Brazil and the United States are currently experiencing the worst diplomatic crisis in their history as a result of the Lula administration’s ongoing persecution of conservatives in the country. President Trump declared Brazil a national security threat in an executive order signed in July, responding to the government’s arrest of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro. The executive order imposed a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian goods and sanctioned the most powerful judge on Brazil’s top court, Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), for his role in persecuting Bolsonaro and other prominent conservatives in the country.
“Recent policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote in the order, listing a long line of actions including the imprisonment, harassment, and silencing via injunction of conservative voices.
De Moraes and the STF ruled last week to convict Bolsonaro on dubious charges of plotting a coup against Lula, to which Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Washington would respond “accordingly.” Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison; he is 70 years old and in poor health.
The U.N. General Assembly opens in early September every year and hosts a “high-level debate” later in the month – an event that traditionally gives the U.N. platform to the leaders of every U.N. member country to discuss topics of their choice. This year’s debate is scheduled to open on September 22. As a result of a tradition stemming from the aftermath of World War II, Brazil’s president is usually the first speaker at the General Assembly following the secretary-general of the U.N. The president of the host country, the United States, usually follows Brazil.
Lula, according to Brazilian media, is expected to depart for New York on Saturday. At press time, Brazilian authorities confirmed on Tuesday, not every member of his delegation has had their visas to enter the United States approved. Foreign Ministry official Marcelo Viegas confirmed that the visas had not been finalized as of Tuesday, but insisted that Brasilia was not concerned that Washington would process them on time.
“We have the indication from the American government that visas that have not yet been granted are in the process of processing,” the Brazilian newspaper O Globo quoted Viegas as saying. “There is a clearly established obligation in the current agreement with the UN, which mandates that the US grant these visas. Any that is not confirmed is a legal violation.”
“We have no reason to think that the U.S. will not observe the law in granting visas,” he reportedly added.
O Globo noted that among the visas still being processed are those of Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski.
CNN Brasil similarly reported that the makeup of the entourage has yet to be finalized in part due to the visa situation. It did report that Economics Minister Fernando Haddad and Lula himself had valid visas and were ready to travel. Haddad’s presence on the approved list indicates that the Lula administration may seek talks with American trade officials while in New York to address the onerous tariffs on the country and perhaps negotiate a trade deal. Lula has aggressively refused to negotiate with Trump directly, calling him a liar and declaring that he would instead “call Xi Jinping,” the Chinese communist dictator, to fortify the Brazilian economy.
The Brazilian outlet Poder360, citing anonymous sources, suggested that Lula is working to limit the number of people coming with him to New York out of concern that Rubio’s threat to respond “accordingly” could result in Brazilian government officials stopped at the airport, blocked from boarding a plane to the United States, or otherwise inconvenienced.
The limiting of the size of the entourage, the outlet claimed, is a response to “fears that the government of President Donald Trump … may impose some kind of embarrassment on the entourage.” It added that some individuals fear being targeted by America’s Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the government to sanction individuals for human rights violations. The sanctions on de Moraes imposed in July are Magnitsky sanctions.
Poder360 reported that no members of the Brazilian Congress will make the trip, a rarity for Brazil’s delegation as it typically allows lawmakers to accrue important foreign policy experience. In 2024, Lula traveled to the General assembly with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, and the president of the lower Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira.
At the U.N., the top spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres answered a question on Tuesday regarding pending visas to attend the General Assembly, describing the situation as “worrisome.”
Stephane Dujarric emphasized that the United States “has a legal obligation to ensure the entry into the country of representatives of delegations with official commitments to the United Nations.”
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