US aimed to send envoys to Brazil to question its electoral system, sources say

BRASILIA – Brazil has denied visa requests for two Trump administration officials who planned to travel to the country to cast doubt on the integrity of its electoral system, two Brazilian officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on July 25.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the US plan represented an attempt to shape Brazil’s October presidential election, in which leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.

Brazil denied the request for visas on July 24 to the US delegation, which would have included Assistant Secretary Riley M. Barnes from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, and also Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary, the Brazilian officials said.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US plan was first reported by The Washington Post and then confirmed by Reuters. REUTERS