By Lisandra Paraguassu and Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON/SAO PAULO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Citing security concerns, the United States suspended consular services on Friday, prompting Australia to also close its embassy two days before the country’s presidential election, fueling an already uneasy environment ahead of the high-stakes vote.
Brazil’s Federal Police said on Friday afternoon they had carried out preventive searches in Sao Paulo and near Brasilia, but had so far found no evidence of a threat or identified any suspects linked to criminal organizations.
The State Department did not elaborate on the security issues or link them to Sunday’s election, which has been marked by tensions over alleged foreign interference and strains between Washington and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government.
“We are working closely with our Brazilian counterparts to address the security concerns,” a department spokesperson said in an email.
The department did not say when the consular services would resume.
“Consular Services in the US Embassy and Consulates in Brazil will be suspended starting Friday, October 2 due to security concerns,” it said in a statement Thursday. “US citizens seeking emergency assistance during this time should not come to the Embassy, the Consulates, or other US diplomatic facilities.”
Australia’s ambassador to Brazil, Sophie Davies, said on social media that the Australian embassy in Brasilia would also be closed on Friday due to security concerns, citing the alert issued by the US and advising Australians to avoid US embassies and consulates in Brazil.
Brazil’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the matter.
ELECTION TENSIONS
The State Department made the announcement at a tense moment for US-Brazil relations.
Brazilians will vote for president on Sunday in a race that will determine whether Latin America’s largest nation follows the conservative shift that US President Donald Trump has often cheered on from Washington.
Lula and his allies have warned of foreign interference in the election, pointing to tariffs and an effort by Washington to send officials to Brazil to “discuss electoral integrity.”
Edinho Silva, president of Lula’s Workers’ Party, called Friday’s closures “unprecedented” in a press conference.
“It makes no sense at all. It’s one of Trump’s ways of trying to influence Brazilian public opinion,” Silva said.
Though he has publicly praised Lula’s main right-wing opponent Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, Trump has not formally endorsed a candidate, and the State Department has rejected claims of election meddling, but the issue has hovered over the race.
Brazilian intelligence officials this month briefed a French and German delegation in Brasilia on what they described as US and Russian interference before Brazil’s election. The visit underlined growing concern on both sides of the Atlantic over Trump’s efforts to support like-minded candidates.
Violent crime has also dominated the list of voter concerns in Brazilian election polls, prompting candidates to pledge tougher security measures.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington, Gabriel Araujo and Lisandra Paraguassu in Sao Paulo; writing by Brendan O’Boyle; editing by Michelle Nichols, Sanjeev Miglani and Aurora Ellis)
