US Revokes Visa of Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Viotti Amid Escalating Diplomatic Tensions
The Donald Trump administration has officially revoked the visa of Brazil’s Ambassador to the United States, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti. The move marks a new boiling point in diplomatic tensions between Washington and Latin America’s largest economy.
A senior US State Department official said the action was a reciprocal measure. It was triggered by Brazil’s failure to approve the appointment of Daniel Perez, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, as US Ambassador to Brasilia.
The US side accuses the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of deliberately delaying the approval until after Brazil’s general election in October. “We regret this situation. But we reiterate that reciprocity is the rule of the game,” the official said in a closed briefing.
Brazil’s presidential office denied the US justification and called it false information. Brazil stressed that under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, there is no time limit for a receiving state to grant approval for a new ambassador.
Brazil also highlighted Trump’s procedure of announcing Daniel Perez’s name before formal notification and approval from the Brazilian government. Currently, Perez’s nomination has only been approved in a Senate committee hearing last month, but has not yet gone through a full vote in the US Senate.
The Lula government called Washington’s action a deliberate escalation of hostile acts driven by ideological motives. Relations between the two countries have become increasingly complicated due to Trump’s closeness to the Bolsonaro family. Trump is known to support Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who will compete against Lula in the upcoming election.
Another State Department official who declined to be named criticised the US confrontational approach. He noted that every time Brasilia appears bold in standing up to Trump, Lula’s popularity in opinion polls actually increases.
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, whose visa was revoked, is a senior career diplomat and the first woman to lead Brazil’s embassy in Washington. She previously served as ambassador to the United Nations and Germany. The US State Department said her visa would be restored as soon as Brazil approves Trump’s chosen ambassador.