Diplomatic tensions are currently raging between Brazil and the United States, which have intensified following court rulings and tariff measures, heightening the climate of uncertainty. Internal political pressures and trade disputes create an environment of stalled negotiations, with increasingly tough talks on both sides.
Pressure mounts on Brazil-US relations
Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, told Reuters on Thursday that he expects additional U.S. sanctions against Brazilian officials and possibly more tariffs due to a legal crackdown on his father. In an interview at the Reuters bureau in Washington after meetings with senior U.S. officials, the lawmaker said he saw no way for Brazil to negotiate a lower U.S. tariff on its exports without concessions from the Brazilian Supreme Court.
The younger Bolsonaro’s advocacy in Washington has put him at the center of bilateral tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods and financial sanctions on the Brazilian judge overseeing the prosecution of the elder Bolsonaro, demanding an end to a “witch hunt” against the former president.
Jair Bolsonaro is currently on trial before Brazil’s top court over an alleged plot to overturn the 2022 election that he lost. He denies any wrongdoing. Eduardo Bolsonaro described the U.S. tariffs on Brazilian beef, coffee, fish, footwear, and other goods as “bitter medicine” aimed at curbing what he called an out-of-check legal offensive against his father.
Sanctions and visa restrictions increase friction
The U.S. State Department ratcheted up pressure on Wednesday, moving to revoke and restrict visas for government officials and their family members from countries including Brazil due to their ties with an exchange program involving Cuban doctors.
Eduardo Bolsonaro said he expects those restrictions will soon hit Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and probably leftist ex-President Dilma Rousseff for their roles in the program. Rousseff was the chief of staff and successor to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when his second term ended in 2010. Representatives for Padilha and Rousseff did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
American visas have also been subject to sanctions and restrictions by the US, and this has been interpreted by analysts as a strategy of direct pressure on figures linked to the Brazilian government and previous political decisions. With this, Washington intends to expand punitive measures beyond the commercial sphere, touching on areas such as diplomacy and domestic politics.
Lula maintains a firm stance against foreign interference
Lula has dismissed Trump’s demands as an affront to national sovereignty and said he has refused to “humiliate” himself with a call to the White House. In a Reuters interview last week, he called Eduardo Bolsonaro and his father “traitors” for courting Trump’s intervention.
Brazil’s top court is investigating both Bolsonaros over their appeals to Trump. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has increased pressure on the former president, putting him under house arrest and forbidding contact with his son in the U.S. or foreign officials. In Thursday’s interview in Washington, Eduardo Bolsonaro said he expected a U.S. response to that crackdown, including sanctions against Viviane Barci de Moraes, a high-powered Brazilian attorney married to Justice Moraes.
The crisis escalates to an institutional core
This clash between Brazilian and US authorities occurs at a time of heightened political tension, with court decisions and diplomatic measures intertwined.
Whether this impasse continues will depend on the countries’ willingness to separate legal disputes from trade negotiations. With this mix of economic interests and political clashes, the tendency is for conflicts to become more intense and sanctions more severe. The future of relations depends on how the next steps are handled.
GCN.com/Reuters