Latin America Rising > U.S. revokes Brazil ambassador’s visa; Anti-crime task force initiated across the Americas; Moody's warns of hurdles with Latin Americas minerals boom; Hernández returns to Honduras for trial

 

U.S. revokes Brazil ambassador’s visa amid ongoing spat with Lula

By Matthew Lee And Mauricio Savarese  The Associated Press

Posted August 4, 2026 4:07 pm

 4 min read

The Trump administration has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States in retaliation for Brazil’s denial of visas last month for two American diplomats who sought to visit ahead of upcoming elections as well as Brazil’s stalling on approving President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador in Brasilia.

The State Department said the decision was a reciprocal response to Brazil’s actions and officials said the step had been delayed several times to give Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva room to back down, something he did not do. Officials said, however, that it could be quickly reversed if Brazil takes appropriate action and accepts Trump’s ambassadorial choice.

Trump has had a fractious relationship for some time with Lula’s administration, which has opposed him on numerous policies, particularly in the Western Hemisphere regarding Venezuela and Cuba. Their relationship also has been strained by Trump’s fondness for Lula’s first term successor and then predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, and his son Flávio, who is Lula’s main opponent in October election.

Lula has spared Trump himself from criticism and claims they liked each other when they first met at the United Nations Assembly General in September of last year. The Brazilian leader has blamed Secretary of State Marco Rubio for some of the actions against his country.

2:07

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Brazil's ambassador is not being expelled

Despite the revocation of her visa, Brazil’s ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is not being expelled from the United States, said one State Department official, who like several others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic matter. The ambassador was previously a senior United Nations official.

She could be allowed to resume her official duties if the Brazilian government accepts Trump’s choice of former Florida House speaker Danny Perez to be U.S. ambassador to Brazil. Perez was nominated to the post in June and the official said Brazil had signaled it would not act on the appointment until after the first round of Brazil’s election on Oct. 4.

In addition to stalling on Perez, Brazil denied visas last month for Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and one of his top aides after reports emerged that the pair were going to criticize Lula or the election process.

The State Department denied the allegations and said the two had planned to visit Brasilia on July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about “election integrity,” religious freedom and freedom of expression.

It said the visit was routine and that “any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.”

Brazil’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press about the revocation of the ambassador’s visa, but last week a top Brazilian diplomat told journalists the government was expecting a response from the U.S.

The diplomat also mentioned the U.S. government had triggered the proceedings to send Perez to Brasilia before seeking Brazil’s approval, which is not standard diplomatic procedure. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly.

The same Brazilian diplomat told the AP on Tuesday, also under condition of anonymity, that the Lula administration is trying to figure out why the U.S. government is rushing to have an ambassador in Brasilia only months before October’s election. The post in the Brazilian capital has been vacant since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

2:01

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The Trump administration has taken other actions against Brazil

Lula, who is 80 and seeking his fourth term as Brazil’s president, will face Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father once served as Brazil’s president and whose family has many ties with the Trump administration.

Sen. Bolsonaro and his brother, Eduardo, visited U.S. officials in Washington, including Trump, in late May. Shortly afterward, the Trump administration classified Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking groups — First Command Capital and Red Command — as foreign terrorist organizations, a move Lula opposes.

The Trump administration also imposed an up to 37.5% tariff hike on thousands of Brazilian exports, which came into force Friday. The U.S. government claims the South American nation has unfair competition practices and fails to stop forced labor practices — both accusations rejected by the Lula administration as an attempt to sway the election to Sen. Bolsonaro.

Jair Bolsonaro has for years fed concerns about the country’s electronic voting system, without providing any evidence for his claims. He is now serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for an attempted coup. He has long insisted that the machines, used for a quarter-century, are prone to fraud.

Sen. Bolsonaro has recently repeated some of these claims, although he steered clear of those on Saturday when his Liberal Party confirmed him as a presidential candidate in Sao Paulo.

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U.S., 18 countries across Americas launch anti-crime task force

By Macarena Hermosilla

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Southern Command announced Wednesday creation of the Western Hemisphere Joint Task Force, a partnership with 18 countries across the Americas aimed at combating transnational organized crime and strengthening regional security.

In a statement, U.S. Southern Command said the alliance is intended to "increase operational effectiveness against threats that undermine regional security and affect the United States" and its partners while also strengthening responses to emergencies and humanitarian crises.

Gen. Francis Donovan, the Southern Command commander, said the new task force will serve as the command's "operational arm" to confront threats across the Western Hemisphere.

Donovan said the initiative marks a transition from Operation Southern Spear, an operation launched by the Trump administration in September 2025 that included strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific and the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"Malign actors threaten national security, destabilize the region and exploit vulnerable populations," Donovan said, adding that the task force will "synchronize military capabilities and apply sustained pressure against networks that threaten the region's collective security."

The task force will be led by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarard. It is expected to expand intelligence sharing, increase joint training, improve interoperability, support maritime interdiction efforts, strengthen partner capabilities and remain prepared to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster response when needed.

The coalition was initially established as the Shield of the Americas with 11 countries during a meeting convened by President Donald Trump in Miami in March.

It now includes Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.

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Moody's warns Latin America faces hurdles in critical minerals boom

By Francisca Orellana

SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Latin America holds about 40% of the world's copper reserves and 60% of global lithium brine resources, but regulatory challenges, infrastructure gaps and financing constraints threaten the region's ability to become a leading producer of critical minerals in the coming years, credit rating agency Moody's said.

The region, particularly Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil, also has significant deposits of nickel, graphite and rare earth elements. Despite that potential, Moody's said structural bottlenecks, technical challenges and macroeconomic and regulatory uncertainty continue to hinder the sector's development.

Moody's is a major global credit‑rating and financial‑risk analysis firm that evaluates the creditworthiness of countries, companies and sectors, issuing assessments that influence how easily they can attract investment and borrow money.

While demand for critical minerals is expected to keep rising, Moody's said developing processing and refining capacity remains more difficult than expanding mining operations, limiting the region's ability to capture more value from the supply chain.

"Policy and regulatory uncertainty remains one of the main risks, threatening delays even for projects that would otherwise be attractive," Moody's said.

The agency noted that Chile benefits from an experienced workforce and infrastructure that could support expanded lithium refining. However, it also faces water shortages, rising energy demand and stricter environmental requirements.

Argentina has substantial lithium and copper potential, but continues to face infrastructure deficiencies and regulatory uncertainty.

Peru retains strong advantages in copper production, although social conflicts and political instability have slowed investment.

Brazil stands out for its energy matrix and mineral resources but still faces technological gaps and remains heavily dependent on international partnerships to expand its mineral processing capabilities.

Moody's said China maintains a significant competitive advantage after decades of investment in integrated supply chains, large-scale processing capacity, skilled labor and close coordination between government and industry.

China accounts for between 60% and 80% of global processing of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. It also controls 78% of global cobalt refining, 70% of lithium refining and 92% of rare earth processing.

"New entrants in Latin America cannot replicate this ecosystem quickly. Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru each have distinct competitive strengths and weaknesses," the report said, according to Chilean newspaper La Tercera.

Moody's also said the regional market is advancing at two different speeds. Large mining companies, including Chile's Codelco and SQM and Brazil's Vale, benefit from their scale, experience and access to financing.

Smaller and newer mining companies, however, face greater challenges securing capital and long-term contracts, even when they control high-quality mineral resources.

Patrick Hall, Deloitte's Energy, Resources and Industrials leader in Chile, told UPI that Latin America has the conditions to become one of the world's leading suppliers of critical minerals, but cautioned that the opportunity should be viewed realistically.

"The combination of large copper and lithium reserves, together with growing demand driven by the energy transition, electrification, digitalization and, more recently, national security concerns, positions the region as a strategic supplier for global markets," Hall said.

However, he said competition now extends beyond mineral deposits to entire jurisdictions, meaning regulatory or operational obstacles can become decisive barriers to investment.

"We see shorter timelines between discovery and production becoming a strategic priority for governments because of growing pressure to secure critical mineral supplies," Hall said.

As a result, investors are placing increasing importance on evaluating resource quality alongside infrastructure access, regulatory stability, permitting timelines, capital availability and legal certainty.

"These are critical challenges and could become the main factor determining who captures this opportunity and who misses it," he said.

Hall identified four major constraints facing the region: permitting and regulation, infrastructure, financing, and productivity and technology.

He said modern mining requires reliable energy, water, transportation, ports, digital connectivity and processing capacity, while future competitiveness will increasingly depend on digitalization, automation and artificial intelligence.

"Critical minerals require large-scale investments and long development timelines. Regulatory certainty and institutional stability will be key advantages in attracting foreign capital," Hall said.

Manuel Reyes, a mining engineering professor at Andrés Bello University, said large mineral reserves alone do not guarantee market leadership.

"Latin America consistently confuses the concentration of geological reserves with actual market dominance. Holding 40% of the world's copper and 60% of its lithium does not provide any real leadership if control of the value chain remains concentrated in Asia," Reyes told UPI.

He said the region continues to operate primarily as a raw materials exporter and lacks sufficient water, energy and technological infrastructure to process a larger share of its mineral production domestically.

"While a greenfield project in the region can take up to 18 years to reach production, the energy transition requires these minerals within a five-year horizon. That gap does not slow global demand. It simply shifts investment toward more agile jurisdictions or accelerates the search for technological alternatives," Reyes said.

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Former Honduras president to face corruption trial free of custody

By Macarena Hermosilla    

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to members of the press at the Supreme Court of Justice in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Monday. Hernandez returned to Honduras in July after receiving a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump that overturned a 45-year U.S. sentence for drug trafficking . However, he faces domestic criminal charges in a case of alleged fraud and money laundering. Photo by Gustavo Amador/EPA

Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A Honduran court ruled that former President Juan Orlando Hernández will stand trial on money laundering and fraud charges while remaining free under court supervision, and that the case will proceed before a lower criminal court rather than the country's Supreme Court.

Although prosecutors initially sought pretrial detention, the Public Ministry did not oppose a defense request during Monday's initial hearing for Hernández to remain free while the case moves forward.

The latest legal proceedings come months after Hernández was unexpectedly released from a U.S. prison.

Hernández was extradited to the United States in April 2022 and was later sentenced by a federal court in New York to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges. President Donald Trump granted him a full presidential pardon on Dec. 1, vacating the sentence on the grounds that the original judicial process had lacked impartiality.

According to local media reports, the Criminal Court for Organized Crime and Corruption ruled that Hernández, who voluntarily surrendered to authorities July 26, met the legal requirements to remain free under judicial supervision while awaiting trial.

The court barred him from leaving Honduras and ordered him to report to authorities once a week.

Prosecutors accuse Hernández of participating in the diversion of $10.8 million in public funds to finance his 2013 presidential campaign.

The case will be handled by the ordinary criminal justice system after judges rejected a defense motion filed Friday seeking to keep the proceedings before the Supreme Court. The judge originally assigned to the case ruled that the high court lacked jurisdiction because Hernández no longer enjoys the immunity granted to a sitting president.

Hernández returned to Honduras on July 26, eight months after he was released from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia. Thousands of supporters from his National Party gathered at the airport in Tegucigalpa to welcome him home and denounce what they described as "political persecution."

Some civil society groups criticized the decision to allow Hernández to remain free, calling it "a snapshot of Honduran impunity" that weakens public confidence in the country's institutions, according to local news outlet Criterio.hn.

The court scheduled the initial evidentiary hearing Aug. 12.

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