US and Australia close consular services in Brazil two days before a knife-edge election

The United States suspended consular services in Brazil and Australia closed its embassy in Brasília on Friday, both citing security concerns, Deutsche Welle reported. Brazilian federal police executed search and seizure warrants in São Paulo and the Federal District as part of an investigation into suspected plans that could threaten US diplomatic facilities, describing the action as preventive and resulting from cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies. Reuters reported that no suspects have been identified and that the State Department did not link the measure to Sunday's vote.

Brazilians elect a president on October 4, along with governors, the entire Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate. A runoff follows on October 25 if no candidate passes 50%. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeking a fourth term against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, and the two are essentially tied in the polls, with one survey showing Bolsonaro ahead 42% to 41% in a simulated second round and another giving Lula 47% to 45%.

The embassy closures and the police operation are not evidence of a coordinated threat to the election itself, and no authority has alleged one. What they establish is that the security services of three governments judged the risk around the vote high enough to act two days before polling.