The president (PT) reinforced his speech about national sovereignty by blocking the entry into the country of Darren Beattie, an advisor to the American government who wanted to visit (PL) in prison. The intention of the PT member and the Brazilian government is to limit American influence over Brazil, but without breaking the relationship that Lula is trying to build with the president of the , .
In a public event on Friday (13), Lula declared that the revocation of the American’s right of entry, applied by Alexandre Padilha (PT), was carried out at the end of last year.
Those around Lula fear that the Trump government, which leads global right-wing forces, will intervene in Brazilian domestic politics in favor of Bolsonarism, especially during this year’s election.
Beattie’s attempt to meet the former president and his son (PL), a pre-candidate for President of the Republic and Lula’s likely opponent in the October race, would be a move in this direction.
Lula’s aides interviewed by the report point out that it is possible that Beattie’s movement did not have Trump’s direct approval.
They also claim that negotiations with the United States to facilitate Lula’s visit to the country should not be affected by the episode, despite some recognizing that the president’s tone could worsen the climate between the two countries. The PT member’s trip was expected for the beginning of March, but has been postponed.
The Brazilian government seeks agreements with the United States mainly related to combating organized crime. Trump used the issue as a pretext, for example, to act against Venezuela. An agreement on the matter could serve as a kind of vaccine against some type of American attack.
Genial/Quaest Research recently indicated that a counterposition to the United States could help Lula’s popularity. The survey, carried out from March 6th to 9th, shows that 48% of Brazilians have an unfavorable opinion of the United States, while 38% are favorable. In October 2023, 56% had a positive image of the country and 25% had a negative one.
The relationship between the US and Brazil reached a low point in 2025, when Trump applied economic sanctions to the country and linked them to investigations against Jair Bolsonaro. The Brazilian government sought to negotiate and managed to have part of the sanctions removed. Lula and Trump got closer in person after meeting at a UN meeting.
The possibility of resuming a discourse of national sovereignty comes at a time when Flávio appears tied with the president in voting intention polls.
One of the best moments of Lula’s popularity, in 2025, was built by combining speeches about national sovereignty, taxation of the richest with tax relief for the poorest and opposition to a project that would shield congressmen from investigations.
With a new rhetorical clash against the United States, it would be possible to regain at least part of the political gains obtained last year. Speeches to this effect were made on Friday by the president of the PT, Edinho Silva. “The issue of country sovereignty is unfortunately being debated internationally today, largely due to the Trump administration’s aggressive stance,” he declared.
He also mentioned “political leaders” aligning themselves with the US president, referring to the Bolsonarists.
According to the latest Datafolha survey, Flávio doubled his voting intentions in the first round and today would be tied in a scenario against Lula. The opponent’s advance was accompanied by a fluctuation in the government’s negative assessment, from 37% to 40%.
The Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann (PT), defended the revocation of Darren Beattie’s visa and criticized statements made in the recent past by the American.
“The attempt by Darren Beattie, Donald Trump’s advisor, to visit the convicted Jair Bolsonaro, did not work. And now he will be without a visa to enter Brazil, by decision of President Lula. Which is correct, because there are several Brazilian authorities who had their visas to the USA canceled”, he wrote.
Beattie tried to arrange a meeting with Bolsonaro after the former president’s defense requested authorization from the (Supreme Federal Court). To this end, the American advisor did not previously seek out members of the Itamaraty or the Palácio do Planalto, as is customary in visits of this type. Today, Bolsonaro is serving a sentence in Brasília for an attempted coup d’état.
The American had his visit request authorized by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, but the former president’s defense requested that the date be changed. After that, the minister asked Itamaraty for information about Beattie’s agenda in Brazil.
In response, the Brazilian chancellor, Mauro Vieira, declared that it was “internal affairs of the Brazilian State”, leading Moraes to retreat from the release.
In the official request, the American official justified the visit with his participation in the Amcham (American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil) critical minerals forum, to be held in São Paulo – without mentioning the meetings with the Bolsonaro family.
According to diplomats interviewed by Sheetit is possible that the arrival of Darren Beattie, who belongs to the second tier of the American government, and the conflict between the justifications presented have not even been evaluated by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
They argue that the criteria for allowing diplomatic visits like this are values shared between the two countries and that they would have been evaluated by the first echelon before formalizing the request to the Brazilian Court.
