FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Lula wants to use Trump envoy visa snub to boost his popularity
Health Minister Alexandre Padilha (right) had his US visa revoked last year, which President Lula is using as justification to do the same for a Trump envoy. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/EBC
When President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced last Friday that he had personally revoked the visa of Darren Beattie — Donald Trump's special envoy to Brazil — he was careful with his choice of words. Not “my administration revoked.” Not “the Foreign Ministry revoked.” Lula made a point of saying that he annulled Beattie’s visa.
Revoking the entry visa of a mid-level US State Department official could have been quietly handled by the government. Instead, Lula strode to the microphone himself — and made sure everyone knew his part in the decision. This is less about Beattie, and more about …
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