Brazil's health minister, Alexandre Padilha, has denounced the US decision to revoke the visa of his 10-year-old daughter, calling it an 'astonishing absurdity' and 'diplomatic abuse'. The move is part of a broader pressure campaign by the Trump administration targeting Brazilian officials and their families amid tensions over the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Padilha's daughter and her mother lost their US visas last month, as the Trump administration targeted individuals linked to Brazil's government and supreme court. The action came after Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for orchestrating a 2022 coup attempt. Padilha questioned what risk his child could pose to US security, noting the irony that his own father had fled Brazil's dictatorship and found refuge in the US in the 1970s.
The visa revocation is part of a series of US measures, including Magnitsky sanctions on Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, visa cancellations for eight of Brazil's 11 supreme court judges, and 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hinted at further punishment following Bolsonaro's conviction.
Padilha also criticised the targeting of Brazil's Mais Médicos health programme, which Rubio claimed enriched the Cuban regime. Padilha dismissed this as a pretext, arguing that Trump's actions reflect an assault on both healthcare and democracy. He vowed that Brazil would not be intimidated and would continue to defend its democratic institutions.
