State Department Advances Trump Crackdown on ‘Far-Left Terrorism’

On August 4-5, 2026, the U.S. State Department revoked the visa of Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Brazil's ambassador to the United States, marking a sharp escalation in a diplomatic dispute between the U.S. and Brazil under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The dispute has spanned several months, according to NBC News. Separately, the State Department announced that more than 175,000 visas have been revoked in total under the Trump administration, a figure reported by Fox News and referenced by NPR in an interview with State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, who also discussed the ongoing situation with Iran. According to The Guardian and CBS News, the U.S. action against Ambassador Viotti was taken in retaliation for Brazil's refusal to approve President Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Brasília, identified by CBS News as Daniel Perez. The Guardian additionally reported that Brazil had denied visas to two U.S. diplomats who sought to visit the country ahead of an October election, which contributed to the escalation. A senior State Department official told CBS News that Viotti's visa would be reinstated immediately if Brazil grants diplomatic approval for Perez's nomination as ambassador to Brazil. As of the reporting, the dispute remained unresolved, with Brazil not having approved Trump's ambassadorial nominee and the U.S. visa revocation still in effect. It is not confirmed in the supplied reporting whether the 175,000 total visa revocations cited by Fox News and NPR include the Viotti case, nor is the specific timeline connecting the broader visa crackdown to the Brazil dispute established. NPR's report additionally connects visa revocations to tensions involving Iran, but details of that connection and its relationship to the Brazil case are not corroborated across sources.