Brazil Denies Visas to U.S. Officials Over Election-Interference Fears

The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 25, 2026 5:55 pm ET | Samantha Pearson

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Move comes amid concerns that Trump delegation could help Bolsonaro family cast doubt on electronic voting ahead of October’s presidential election

SÃO PAULO—Brazil has denied visas to two senior Trump administration officials who were planning to travel to the country, amid concerns that they sought to undermine confidence in the electronic-voting system before October’s presidential election.

The move comes as fears deepen in Brazil that the Bolsonaro family is working with President Trump and his allies to unseat leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and help return the Brazilian right to power.

Former president Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for plotting a coup ahead of the last presidential election. His eldest son, Flávio, was formally nominated as the right-wing candidate on Saturday at a party convention attended by Argentine President Javier Milei, an ideological ally.

Brazil’s foreign ministry said Saturday it had denied visas for Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and ⁠Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary of state.

Brazil’s government believes the planned delegation is part of a concerted effort by Jair Bolsonaro’s sons—including his son Eduardo, who lives in the U.S.—to discredit the elections in case Flávio Bolsonaro loses in October, said people close to da Silva.

The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brazilian officials said alarm bells went off in the capital city of Brasília earlier this week when Flávio Bolsonaro told diplomats that the country’s electronic-voting machines were produced by the Venezuelan company Smartmatic, insinuating they were vulnerable to fraud.

Brazil’s election court has rejected those claims, saying that Smartmatic has never supplied voting machines used in Brazilian elections and that international observers have consistently found the country’s system to be secure.

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 202607; 202610; axisofevil; bolsonaro; brazil; dasilva; eduardobolsonaro; elections; electronicvoting; falviobolsonaro; javiermilei; luizdasilva; luladasilva; smartmatic; socialists; venezuela; votefraud

[balch3]

Give Brazil the Venezuela treatment!

[marktwain]

As I recall, didn’t President Biden do a great deal to unseat Bolsonaro and put da Silva into power?

Any freepers who know more, please chime in.

[gibsonguy]

Bolsonaro, like Trump, had his election stolen it was obvious and brazen. Then they put him in jail for saying anything. Now they are making no one is going watch them steal it again. That’s why they have blocked these people.