Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes reconsidered a prior decision and denied the visit by Donald Trump's advisor, Darren Beattie, to former President Jair Bolsonaro. The prohibition followed warnings from the Foreign Ministry about potential interference in Brazilian internal affairs. The visit, initially authorized for March 18, was vetoed on Thursday, March 12.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes vetoed on Thursday, March 12, 2026, the visit by advisor Darren Beattie to former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is serving his sentence at Papudinha prison in Brasília. Initially, Moraes had authorized the meeting for March 18, but reconsidered after receiving information from Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
Vieira reported that Beattie's diplomatic visa was granted solely for his participation in a forum on critical minerals at the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil (AMCHAM) in São Paulo on March 18. There were no confirmed diplomatic agendas involving the U.S. State Department advisor, and requests for meetings at the Itamaraty were made only on Wednesday, March 11, without confirmation. "The visit could constitute 'undue interference in the internal affairs of the Brazilian State'", Vieira stated in a submission to the court.
In the decision, Moraes emphasized that the visit "is not inserted in the diplomatic context that authorized the granting of the visa and his entry into Brazilian territory, and was not previously communicated to Brazilian diplomatic authorities, which could even lead to a review of the granted visa". Bolsonaro's defense had requested a change in the meeting date.
Beattie, a senior advisor on Brazil policy at the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio, is a critic of the Lula government and Moraes, whom he called the "main architect of the censorship and persecution complex" against Bolsonaro. During his stay in Brazil, he plans meetings in São Paulo and Brasília to discuss the electoral system, including encounters with Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
