Brasília, Brazil - A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Thursday reversed a decision allowing an advisor to US President Donald Trump to visit former president Jair Bolsonaro in prison after the Brazilian government warned of potential foreign interference.

Bolsonaro, who was sentenced last year to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup after his 2022 election loss, was an ally of Trump, who called the far-right leader's prosecution a "witch hunt."

Lawyers for Bolsonaro earlier this week asked the court to allow Darren Beattie, the US State Department's new advisor on Brazil, to visit Bolsonaro in prison on March 18.

But Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Thursday revoked the authorization he himself had granted after the Brazilian government cautioned against the meeting.

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Brazil's foreign ministry said Beattie's visa had been granted exclusively to allow him to attend a forum on critical minerals and to participate in official meetings with Brazilian government officials.

It said the visit of a foreign public official to a former president during an election year "could constitute undue interference" in Brazil's internal affairs, according to court documents.

Brazil's next presidential election is slated for October, and, despite his incarceration, Bolsonaro remains a central figure on the country's political stage.

The former president has designated his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as the right-wing candidate to challenge the incumbent leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.