SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's health minister said on Friday he will not attend the United Nations' General Assembly in New York next week because the United States government gave him “an unacceptable visa” with mobility restrictions within the country.
Alexandre Padilha, one of the closest aides to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in a statement he will stay in Brazil due to “unfounded and arbitrary limitations to Brazil's diplomatic exercise" from the U.S. government.
The two countries have been at odds since President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports in connection with the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the country’s Supreme Court for leading a coup attempt.
Earlier, two Brazilian government officials told The Associated Press the Lula administration had protested to the United Nations after Padilha received a much-delayed U.S. visa that limits his movement in New York to the U.N. headquarters and a few blocks close to his hotel.
Brazil’s government also said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres it is concerned the Trump administration may deny, revoke or restrict visas to other officials expected to attend the assembly.
The Brazilian sources spoke under condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly.
Brazil argued the move by the U.S. government violates article 105 of the U.N. charter and the convention about privileges and immunities that guarantee no restrictions for immigration and movement of government officials.
The Lula administration also said in its letter to Guterres that U.N. resolution 43/48 states that the host country has a legal obligation to assure every delegation has unlimited access regardless of their political affiliations.
Neither the U.N. nor the U.S. government responded a request for comment from the AP.
Padilha was initially scheduled to travel to Washington for other meetings. His U.S. visa expired in August. In June, his wife and 10-year-old daughter had their U.S. visas revoked in connection with Trump's decision to impose visa restrictions on Cuban and foreign government officials involved in Cuba’s medical missions.
Brazil had a program that hired thousands of Cuban doctors during the presidency of Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), who also had Padilha as her health minister.
Speaking to TV GloboNews, Padilha said Brazil's “international activities will continue.”
“They might stop the minister from being present, but the defense of science, vaccines (will go forward),” the Brazilian health minister said. “This U.S. president will not be able to stop it."
On Sunday, Lula said in a New York Times op-ed that his government is open to negotiating anything that can bring mutual benefits, but added “Brazil’s democracy and sovereignty are not on the table.”
Lula said he was proud of the Supreme Court for its “historic decision” which safeguards Brazil’s institutions and the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro's trial, he added, is not a “witch hunt,” as Donald Trump described it when he announced higher tariffs on Brazilian goods.
The U.S. government has also sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the Bolsonaro trial. The U.S. Treasury Department cited the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of human rights abuse and corrupt officials, as its authority to issue the sanctions.
The decision orders the freezing of any assets or property de Moraes may have in the U.S.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gives a joint statement with Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, at Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, on Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
