Brazil's president confirms two US government officials were denied visas over election interference fears
Brazil has argued the visit could have been used to raise suspicions about the electoral system's reliability ahead of October's vote, which the US state department rejects.
Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva has confirmed his government's decision to deny visas to two U.S. government officials, citing concerns about their alleged attempts to interfere in the upcoming October election.
"We had to deny visas to two young folks they were sending to Brazil to meddle in Brazil's elections," Lula stated on Wednesday.
The two State Department officials were scheduled to visit Brazil in late July. Their stated purpose was to discuss freedom of expression and religion, as well as election integrity. They also planned to meet with right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.
Previously, the U.S. State Department dismissed any suggestion of undermining Brazil's elections as a "baseless lie."
The upcoming Brazilian election will feature an 80-year-old incumbent, left-wing President Lula da Silva, against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after his defeat in the last election.
Jair Bolsonaro was barred from holding office even before his coup conviction last year due to his repeated dissemination of unsubstantiated claims that electronic voting machines could be rigged, both after his 2018 victory and during the 2022 campaign. He notably expressed doubts about the integrity of Brazil's election system to a gathering of foreign diplomats.
Following his 2022 loss, his supporters violently stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace on January 8, 2023, an event likened to the January 6 Capitol riots in the U.S.
A few weeks prior, his son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who has received endorsements from Argentine President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, informed diplomats that Brazil's machines shared an origin with Venezuela's and referenced a CIA report on electoral fraud in that country.
Flávio Bolsonaro later denied questioning the system's integrity, asserting that he merely desired as many international observers as possible.
However, subsequent to that meeting, the Brazilian government blocked visas for a U.S. delegation, citing worries that they would attempt to cast unfounded doubts on the election. This included two senior State Department officials: Riley M. Barnes, an assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary in the same section.
Flávio Bolsonaro's assertions regarding the country's electronic voting machines have been refuted by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court. Brazil's electoral system is domestically developed and has been lauded by experts as one of the most secure globally.
Electronic voting has been in use in Brazil since 1996, with no recorded instances of systemic fraud. The machines utilize fingerprints to verify voter identity, preventing individuals from voting on behalf of others or registering multiple times.
Each machine also generates a paper copy of its tally, which is displayed for public comparison with the official count. The results undergo independent audits. Experts are also invited in advance to attempt to hack the machines or identify irregularities, aiming to reassure the public.