Trump wants to cause embarrassment to Brazil in the UN

Brazilian entourage faces barriers visas on days of the opening of the UN Assembly, expanding the tension between Brasilia and Washington

A few days from the opening of the UN General Assembly General Debate in New York, the delegation that will accompany President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva do not have all visas released to enter the United States. The pending, confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lit the alert in Brasilia and can become another point of friction between the governments of Lula and Donald Trump.

According to Itamaraty, if a restriction is configured directed to Brazil, the country may resort to an arbitral procedure within the UN itself, based on the agreement that guarantees free access of official delegations to the US territory during the United Nations events. The measure would be a hard diplomatic response to the White House offensive.

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Last week, Brazilian diplomats had already protested at a UN committee meeting, held precisely to discuss Trump’s announcement that he would not accredit the official entourage of Palestine. The gesture was classified by several countries as a direct affront to international standards and the organization’s headquarters statute, which provides unrestricted access to all Member States.

The climate has worsened in recent days with the confirmation that at least two Lula government ministers were hit by unilateral US measures. Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski had personal or family visas canceled, in an action interpreted in Brasilia as political retaliation. Itamaraty has not officially reported the number of visas still pending, but diplomats recognize that the impasse persists and can gain more serious contours on the eve of Lula’s speech in New York.

At the center of this dispute is the growing tension between the Trump administration and the Brazilian government. The episode not only threatens to embarrass the presence of the president in the UN, but also rekindles the debate to how much Washington is willing to use the policy of visas as a weapon of diplomatic pressure.

First Lady arrives before Lula and will have his own agenda in New York

While the Brazilian government faces uncertainties about the release of visas of the presidential entourage, the first lady Rosângela da Silva, Janja, already landed in New York on Thursday (18) to accompany the opening of the UN General Assembly. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in turn, should only arrive on Sunday (21), on the eve of the traditional opening speech he will do on Tuesday (23).

During the stay in the city, Janja will be staying at the official residence of Ambassador Sérgio Danese, permanent representative of Brazil in the UN. The space is considered a strategic point of Brazilian diplomacy, often used to receive authorities in official commitments.

Separate agenda and reinforced protocols
Traveling in a different agenda from Lula’s, the organization of the first lady’s trip has required specific logistics and security protocols. The differentiated scheme seeks to ensure the smooth running of official commitments and remembers previous situations, such as 2023, when Janja made a visit to Bruges, almost 100 kilometers from Brussels, which forced the security team to adopt special adjustments.

International Presence History
Janja’s participation in international events has been the subject of debates. In early 2024, after criticism of opposition sectors of an alleged excess of protagonism, she chose not to attend a UN conference on women in New York. At the time, nearby interlocutors stated that the decision was strategic, to avoid interference interpretations in diplomatic guidelines.

Social meetings and guidelines
This time, however, Janja will have his own compromises parallel to the president’s official programming. She must participate in meetings focused on social issues and women’s rights, topics that mark her public performance since the beginning of Lula’s term. It is expected that its presence reinforces the image of Brazil in multilateral debates on gender equality and social inclusion.

With the early arrival of the first lady and the uncertainty about the views of the presidential entourage, Brazil disembarks in the UN under a climate of diplomatic tension, but also with the intention of projecting protagonism in social and humanitarian agendas.

With information from news agencies*