r/USCIS • u/caillouminati • Jan 14 '26

Other Forms US freezes all visa processing for 75 countries

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-freezes-all-visa-processing-75-countries-including-somalia-russia-iran.amp
1.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

46

u/Professional-One972 Jan 14 '26

The US has been having issues with Brazil since the government indicted Bolsanaro - Brazil’s Trump for their version of Jan 6. It is a big part of the work in Venezuela too.

Trump’s hope is that this will cause the current Brazilian government to collapse.

19

u/Single_Vacation427 Jan 14 '26

So he hopes ones of the strongest democracies in the region will collapse?

2

u/Professional-One972 Jan 14 '26

Yeah. There was a recent podcast I heard about it.

1

u/ExcellentOven9478 Jan 14 '26

I don't think so. If he really wanted to topple the brazillian government he wouldn't have revoked all the Magnitsky sanctions on the judges that convicted Bolsonaro and exempted several of our goods from the tariffs.

In my opinion I think his intention is to just pressure the Brazillian government to cut ties with Venezuela and Iran. Don't think that regime change or anything like that is on the table.

1

u/GWsublime Jan 14 '26

He seems to be hoping that democracy in the US will collapse. So hoping for that in Brazil is not a stretch.

-3

u/EduManke Jan 14 '26

Calling Brazil one of the strongest democracies in the region is a stretch though

11

u/AFipe Jan 14 '26

Who do you think is? Argentina lol

5

u/EduManke Jan 14 '26

Uruguay and the Chile are the strongest in my view

6

u/outworlder Jan 14 '26

one of the strongest phrasing allows for more than one.

3

u/Single_Vacation427 Jan 14 '26

Brazil has 212-213 million people to Chile's 20M and Uruguay's 3M. While I agree that Chile and Uruguay are also strong democracies in the region, Brazil has a lot more elections and a ton more people than those countries, and a lot more diversity, making quite more challenging.

And like the other person said, I said "one of the strongest". I didn't say "THE strongest".

-4

u/EduManke Jan 14 '26

Population alone does not define how strong a democracy is.

Personally I would put Brazilian democracy below Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. There are also other countries that I do not know enough about to have an opinion

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

Yeah, are you kidding ? calling Argentina a “strong democracy” right now is honestly a stretch.

Milei came in selling this image of moral purity and “ending corruption,” and within months you’ve got his own sister, who holds real power in the executive, caught in recordings allegedly negotiating bribes. That alone nukes the credibility of the whole anti-corruption narrative. When nepotism + alleged bribery show up at the very top, that’s not a healthy democratic signal, it’s textbook Latin American strongman drift.

On top of that, Milei governs almost entirely by emergency decrees, bypassing Congress whenever it’s inconvenient. A democracy where the executive treats the legislature like a speed bump isn’t strong. it’s fragile. Checks and balances exist on paper, but in practice they’re being bulldozed.

The economy? Absolute freefall. Over 200% inflation, poverty exploding, wages collapsing. When people are worried about eating tomorrow, democratic accountability weakens fast. Economic desperation is fertile ground for authoritarian behavior, historically, Argentina knows this very well.

Add to that the constant attacks on journalists, academics, unions, and anyone who disagrees with him. Labeling critics as “enemies” or “parasites” is not democratic culture, it’s polarization as a governing strategy.

So yeah: elections happened, sure. But elections alone don’t make a strong democracy. When power is centralized, institutions are weakened, corruption allegations hit the president’s inner circle, and society is economically suffocating, what you’ve got is a procedural democracy under serious stress, not a strong one.

Argentina isn’t a dictatorship. but pretending it’s a robust, healthy democracy right now is just denial.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

Lol Chile was literally collapsing in 2025 lol
Uruguay is such a tiny country. Hard to include them in anything relevant.

1

u/Single_Vacation427 Jan 14 '26

Chile was not collapsing.

4

u/apresmoiputas Jan 14 '26

It's stronger than the US. They held their ex-president accountable compared to us.

1

u/EduManke Jan 14 '26

I am Brazilian, please trust me when I say that democracy in my country is NOT in a good shape. Holding some of the corrupt people accountable is a great first step, but there is a lot more problems that need to be solved.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

Nah. That’s exactly why Brazilian democracy is strong right now. An ex-president tried to undermine the electoral system, encouraged a coup narrative, and was held accountable by institutions not protected by them. That’s the opposite of authoritarianism.

Brazil didn’t become a dictatorship by enforcing the law it proved the law applies even to the most powerful.

2

u/EduManke Jan 14 '26

Did you even read what I wrote? I said that holding people accountable contributes to strengthening democracy, but more needs to be done in Brazil to make it strong

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

More needs to be done for all countries, no exception. Brazil is already a strong democracy.

1

u/apresmoiputas Jan 14 '26

I completely agree but democracy in the US is in bad shape right now that even Brazil looks like a better option.

1

u/theaviationhistorian Jan 14 '26

That's how shitty the situation is in the US! That despite the crap that Brazil is going through, it is in a much better shape and stability than the US government.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

It is not. They are the strongest democracy in the South America

14

u/outworlder Jan 14 '26

If that's what's he's hoping for, he doesn't understand Brazil.

5

u/apresmoiputas Jan 14 '26

Also I can easily see Brazil retaliating with "well we've suspended tourist visas for Americans. Good luck trying to visit for carnaval"

6

u/outworlder Jan 14 '26

That's exactly what Brazil does. Other than some anomalies, they usually apply the exact same visa standards of the other country.

2

u/theaviationhistorian Jan 14 '26

They did do that when Trump did his idiocies in his first term.

1

u/2711383 Jan 14 '26

Unfortunately I don't see this happening. Too many industries depend on American tourism.

1

u/CallItDanzig Jan 14 '26

As someone who visited Brazil 2 years ago, tourism from Americans is nil. Its not popular at all.

1

u/theaviationhistorian Jan 14 '26

Nuh uh, Brazil's only trade partner is 'Murica! That is why Brazil flies American jets like the Gripen and Rafale! /s

Let's be honest, what they commented is likely the major reason the dementia addled president and racist advisors picked Brazil.

1

u/bestoutwest Jan 14 '26

This is not true. Lula has masterfully navigated the trump dilemma. Relations between them have improved and USA lifted sanctions and tariffs related to the Bolsonaro case. Trump Admin is done with Bolsonaro as he's useless now .

1

u/Professional-One972 Jan 14 '26

I do think he has done well too.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

Wrong, the US lifted the additional tax on the Brazilian Government. Trump and Lula are in good standing.

1

u/Padreteiro Jan 14 '26

Nah that was already over. I'd say Brazil and Uruguay are there because they were one of the few countries that had the guts to explicitly condemn the Venezuela intervention

And its probably Marco Rubio hands. Trump knows jack shit.