Since 2019, Brazil has not required a visa for tourists from the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada. However, that changed as of last Monday, the 13th, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Brazil will once again require visas for tourists from those countries. This measure generated disagreement among specialists.
principle of reciprocity
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According to the announcement by the Itamaraty, or the Ministry of International Relations, the repeal of the measure did not happen abruptly. This is because Brazil got in touch with these countries in order to ask that they also offer visa-free access to Brazilian tourists. As this did not happen, there was a decision to revoke it.
In this sense, Brazil opted for the principle of reciprocity, which is very important within diplomatic relations, especially those involving tourism.
For many specialists, this position was correct and can generate more credibility and bargaining power in international negotiations. However, visa exemption has been a demand of the tourism sector for years.
Including, in 2017, still in the government of the former president Michel Temer, the Ministry of Tourism proposed that there be a visa exemption. At the time, Itamaraty replied that it would not consider granting an exemption to any country with which it could not establish equality.
Therefore, the end of the visa requirement came only in 2019 by decree of the former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Criticisms of the end of the exemption
The main criticisms regarding the end of the exemption came from representatives of entities in the tourism sector. For them, the principle of reciprocity is not useful for tourism, since Brazil is not one of the major tourist destinations for Americans and citizens of other countries.
Thus, there is no way to demand similar behavior from the other side.
Furthermore, these representatives also deny the discourse that the number of tourists in Brazil did not grow after the end of the exemption request. This is because, according to them, the pandemic has greatly disturbed the tourism sector.
In this case, in 2022, the country had a peak of American tourists in the country, but the number was similar to the previous peak in 2012.
