Brazil's president confirms two US government officials were denied visas over election interference fears

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has confirmed that his government has denied visas to two US officials who planned to travel to Brazil, accusing them of trying to interfere in October's election.

"We had to deny visas to two young folks they were sending to Brazil to meddle in Brazil's elections," Lula said on Wednesday.

Two state department officials were due in Brazil in late July for what they said was a visit regarding freedom of expression and religion, and election integrity. They were also expected to meet the right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.

Previously, the US state department has called the suggestion they sought to undermine Brazil's elections a "baseless lie".

Brazil's election will pit the 80-year-old incumbent left-wing President Lula da Silva against Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair Bolsonaro, a former president who was handed a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the last election.

Jair Bolsonaro was banned from running for office even before his coup conviction last year because he repeatedly spread unfounded claims that the electronic voting machines could be rigged - both after his win in 2018 and during the 2022 campaign.

He once notably cast doubt on the integrity of Brazil's election system to a room full of foreign diplomats.

And after he lost in 2022, his supporters violently stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace on 8 January, 2023 - Brazil's version of the 6 January Capitol riots in the US.

A few weeks ago, his son Flávio - who has received endorsements from Argentina's President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - told a room of diplomats that Brazil's machines have the same origin as Venezuela's, and cited a CIA report about electoral fraud in that country.

Flávio Bolsonaro later denied he was questioning the integrity of the system, saying he instead wanted as many international observers as possible.

But following the meeting, the Brazilian government blocked visas for a US delegation citing concerns they would try to cast unfounded doubts on the election.

That included two senior state department officials, who have been identified as Riley M Barnes, an assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary in the same section.

Flávio Bolsonaro's claims about the country's electronic voting machines have been refuted by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court. Brazil has its own system which has been praised by experts as one of the most secure in the world.

Electronic voting has been used in Brazil since 1996, with no systemic fraud ever recorded. The machines use fingerprints to verify voters' identity to stop people voting on behalf of others, or registering twice.

Each machine also prints a paper copy of its tally and displays that, so anyone can compare it to the official count. The results are independently audited.

Experts are also invited ahead of time to try hack the machines or find irregularities, to try and reassure the public