The Brazilian Health Minister, Alexandre Padilha, received his visa from the United States on Thursday morning to accompany President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to New York from September 20 to 24. However, Padilha’s movements in the country will be restricted. According to Brazilian government sources, US authorities have determined that the minister can only travel between the hotel, the United Nations (UN) headquarters, and Brazilian representations linked to the organization. Padilha is also allowed to transit in an area equivalent to up to five blocks from his hotel.
There is an expectation for the minister to attend the international conference of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as well as the UN General Assembly, where Lula will deliver the opening speech. Brazilian government sources state that Padilha was the last member of the delegation to receive the US visa. Last Tuesday, the Justice Minister, Ricardo Lewandowski, received authorization after his entry into the US was suspended by the US State Department a few weeks prior.
Padilha’s visa had expired since 2024, and he requested its renewal on August 18. When asked by journalists last Tuesday about the delay in obtaining the document for entering the US, the minister stated that he did not care. Referring to Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, he said, ‘I’m not bothered about the visa. You are more concerned about it than I am. I’m not interested. Only those who want to go to the US worry about the visa. I don’t want to go. Only those who want to leave Brazil or go there to lobby against the country care. That’s not my interest.’
A few days before the Minister of Health requested the renewal of his visa, his wife and 10-year-old daughter had their US entry visas canceled by the US government. Federal public servants involved in the implementation of the More Doctors program, created in 2013 during Dilma Rousseff’s administration, were also affected. According to the White House, Cuban doctors working in Brazil under the program were victims of forced labor exploitation.
Lula and his delegation will depart for New York next Sunday. However, just days before the trip, it was uncertain whether the US government would grant visas to Lula’s delegation members. The visa cancellations by the US are in response to the treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF). The US President Donald Trump had even linked a commercial negotiation with Brazil to lifting a 50% tariff on Brazilian products to the closure of the case against the former president.
Bolsonaro was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison. With the Court’s decision, the US government indicated that new sanctions against Brazilian authorities will follow. So far, the main target of the White House is the STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes. Besides having his visa canceled, Moraes is prohibited from engaging in commercial and financial operations involving American companies.
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