By Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The United States has revoked the visa of Brazil's ambassador in Washington over Brazil withholding formal diplomatic approval of the Trump administration's appointed ambassador to Brasilia and denying visas to several U.S. diplomats, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.
Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti's visa will be restored if the situation is resolved, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
"The action was that the visa of a senior diplomat here was revoked or canceled. That is not the same thing as kicking the person out of the country. It means that they are here but without a visa, and would have their visa restored if the balance is restored by giving agrément to our chosen ambassadorial nominee," the official said, referring to the diplomatic step of accepting an ambassador that is usually a formality.
The visa revocation is the latest development in a deepening rift between the governments of U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Trump officials have accused Lula's government of censoring conservatives or tilting the scales against them in judicial proceedings, while Brazil has pushed back on what it sees as U.S. efforts to influence Latin American politics in favor of conservatives.
The Brazilian government didn’t immediately respond to the move.
Last month, Brazil said it had denied visas to officials from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, saying their visit was intended to undermine Brazil's electoral system ahead of October polls.
That came after Brasilia had for weeks withheld formal approval for the ambassadorship of Daniel Perez, a Florida state representative and close ally of Secretary of State Marco Rubio who was nominated by Trump on June 1.
Reuters reported last week, citing a source, that Washington could take punitive action if Brazil's government continued to withhold the formal diplomatic approval needed for the next U.S. ambassador to take up his post.
"Basically we've had a situation in which our diplomats were being denied the ability to do routine common work between the two countries, and so you know under these circumstances, with the long delay and no promise of ending the impasse of the agrément, we've taken reciprocal action with respect to a Brazilian diplomat here to make the point that it can't always be one-sided," the official said.
Despite the action, the official said Washington put great importance on the relationship with Brazil and that it respected the Brazilian people in whatever government they choose through free and fair elections in Brazil. "We want to be back in a situation where we have a normal, productive, transparent relationship with our colleagues," the official said.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh and Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Daniel Wallis)
