Citizens of the USA need to have a visa prior to arriving at any Brazil border. I just applied for a 90 day visa, it seemed like the longest time I could get. I'm in Venezuela and did the processing at the Brazilian Consulate in Ciudad Guayana. This is what has happened so far:

03 Nov Sunday- Arrived in Ciudad Guayana and wasn't able to locate the consulate. Checked into, The Rock Inn Hotel.

04 Nov, Monday - The owner of the hotel, Pedro, took me to the consulate and helped with translation. I was told I needed to submit copies of the last six months of a bank and credit card statement. Pedro let me use his office and I was able to print out what was needed. I returned to the consulate at 14:00 and they took the statement copies and wanted to view the credit card. They then had me type my information into visa form in a computer, printed it out and attach a photo. The system went down and that's as far as we got. Was told to return at 09:00 the next morning. Hours are 08:00-12:00 / 14:00-18:00.

05 Nov, Tuesday - Returned at 08:30 and the system was still down, I decided to sit and wait. The system started working again around 10:15 and someone started entering my data into another program. The photo I had provided was the wrong size or something and it would not scan. I had to go to a nearby photo shop and get a new photo, 4 for Bols 125. I was then instructed to go to the Banco Provisional nearby and pay the visa fee, Bols 1209.60. The money is wired to an account. I arrived at the bank around 11:00 and finally paid the fee around 15:45, it would have been longer but one of the clerks felt sorry for me because I looked hungry and opened her station for me. Went back to the consulate with the receipt and was told to call on 07 Nov, Thursday to check if the visa is ready. If not it should be ready 08 Nov, Friday.