Brazil denies visas to U.S. officials seeking electoral talks

Brazil's government has denied entry visas to two U.S. State Department officials who intended to meet with electoral authorities ahead of the October presidential elections. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected visa requests for Riley Barnes, deputy assistant secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary in the same department.

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The government considered the mission inappropriate given the context in which it was presented.

According to the ministry, the U.S. officials sought to discuss freedom of expression during the electoral process. However, Brazil's government found the mission's context to be inappropriate. This decision comes shortly after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, alleged without evidence that Brazil's electronic voting machines were manufactured by the Venezuelan company Smartmatic. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has since denied these claims, stating the company has never supplied equipment or software for Brazil's electoral system.

The visa denial also occurs against the backdrop of a similar incident four years prior. In July 2022, then-President Jair Bolsonaro used official state resources to convene ambassadors, attacking the security of electronic voting and raising suspicions of fraud. This led to judicial consequences, with the TSE convicting Jair Bolsonaro in June 2023 for abuse of political power and improper use of public media, rendering him ineligible until 2030.

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The Superior Electoral Court denied that this company ever supplied electronic voting machines or programs used in the Brazilian electoral system.

While Flávio Bolsonaro denied questioning the electoral system's reliability, he advocated for international observers. Brazil's Foreign Ministry stated that the timing of the visa request, immediately following his meeting, led them to believe the visit could be a political instrumentalization of the electoral process. Diplomatic sources noted that while Brazil traditionally welcomes international observers, these U.S. representatives were not intended to serve in that capacity.

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The request was presented shortly after Senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro claimed without evidence that the Brazilian electronic voting machines were manufactured by the Venezuelan company Smartmatic.