BRASILIA, April 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's Federal Police revoked the credentials allowing a Brasilia-based U.S. immigration officer to access some of its data, the police head said on Wednesday, citing a similar move made by the U.S. government.
Washington said on Monday it had asked Brazilian security attache Marcelo Ivo de Carvalho, who acted as a liaison with U.S. immigration enforcement and was based in Miami, to leave the country.
Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues said in an interview with GloboNews that the attache returned to Brazil at his request, but was told that his working credentials were revoked, which prompted Brazil's reaction.
"I have revoked the (U.S. officer's) credentials with great regret. I wish none of this was happening," the Federal Police chief said, adding that Brazil does not aim to expel any U.S. official.
Rodrigues said the police wanted to understand the process by which De Carvalho had his credentials revoked, as it did not receive any formal notice from U.S. authorities.
The standoff came after U.S. immigration agency ICE briefly detained former Brazilian lawmaker Alexandre Ramagem, who fled Brazil in September following his conviction for plotting a coup with ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that his government could reciprocate any perceived abuses by U.S. authorities in the case involving the Brazilian attache.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Sarah Morland and Matthew Lewis)
