President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced that another member of Brazil’s government has had his United States visa revoked, as part of an escalating political feud between the two countries.
On Tuesday, Lula revealed to his cabinet that Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski was recently stripped of his visa, a move the president described as “irresponsible” on the US’s part.
“I wanted to express my solidarity and the government’s solidarity with my colleague Lewandowski who faced with the irresponsible gesture of the United States in revoking his visa,” Lula told his ministers.
Lula added that Brazil would not tolerate being treated as lesser by other countries. He also underscored that Brazil had its own constitution and rule of law to follow.
“We are willing to sit at the table on equal terms. What we are not willing to do is be treated as if we were subordinates. We will not accept that from anyone,” Lula said.
Brazil and the US have long been allies and trading partners, but those relations have grown strained since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term.
Trump has shared an affinity for Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, a fellow far-right leader whose time as president overlapped with Trump’s first term. Bolsonaro served from 2019 to 2023, while Trump was in office from 2017 to 2021.
But Bolsonaro has faced trial this year for allegedly scheming with his allies to orchestrate a coup d’etat, after his narrow loss to Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, but prosecutors allege he plotted several options to orchestrate the violent overthrow of Lula’s government, including by declaring a “state of siege”, calling up the military and holding new elections.
The former president now remains under house arrest, as a verdict in the case approaches in early September.
Trump’s opposition to Bolsonaro trial
Trump, however, has sought to pressure the Brazilian government to drop the case against Bolsonaro, calling the trial a “witch hunt”.
On July 7, he posted on his social media platform Truth Social a message in support of Bolsonaro, nicknamed the “Trump of the Tropics”.
“He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE,” Trump wrote.
Then, two days later, Trump followed that message with a letter addressed to President Lula himself, announcing that Brazil would face 50-percent tariffs on all its exports to the US. The steep tariffs, Trump explained, were a reaction to Brazil’s treatment of Bolsonaro.
“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote.
“This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
Those tariffs took effect on August 1, putting Brazil at the highest US tariff rate in the world. India is slated to face 50-percent tariffs as well, starting on Wednesday, as a result of its petrol imports from Russia.
But the tariffs are not the only action the Trump administration has taken against Brazil to force an end to Bolsonaro’s trial.
The Supreme Court justice who oversaw the investigation into Bolsonaro, Alexandre de Moraes, has faced sanctions from the US government for allegedly censoring right-wing voices.
On July 18, for example, Trump’s Department of State announced it would strip de Moraes of his US visa and do the same for any of his immediate family members.
“Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote.
On July 30, the US government upped the ante with financial sanctions against de Moraes.
They blocked de Moraes from accessing any US-based assets he may have and prohibited any US-based individual or entity from doing business with the judge.
“De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement at the time.
In Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, President Lula denounced the attacks on De Moraes, Lewandowski and others as an infringement of Brazil’s sovereignty.
“These attitudes are unacceptable — not only against Minister Lewandowski, but also against Supreme Court justices or any Brazilian official,” Lula said.
