RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on a Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Wednesday Alexandre de Moles Over allegations of oppression of freedom of expression and the ongoing trial of former President Jia Bolsonaro.
De Moraes will oversee the criminal case against Bolsonaro. Master a plot to maintain power Despite his 2022 election defeat to current President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
“De Moraise is responsible for censorship, arbitrary detention in violation of human rights, and politicized prosecutions, and will be responsible for prosecutions, including former President Jae Bolsonaro,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said in a statement.
The department cited the global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets human rights abuse and perpetrators of corrupt officials, as its authority to issue sanctions.
The decision orders the freeze of assets or property in the United States.
The Brazilian Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Wednesday’s sanctions follow the announcement of the US State Department’s visa restrictions on Brazilian judicial authorities, including des Moreise, on July 18.
They will also come after President Donald Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazilian imports July 9th. In a letter announcing the tariffs, Trump explicitly linked the import tax to what he called the ongoing Bolsonaro “witch hunt” trial in Brazil.
Trump appears to equate him with Bolsonaro, who has been accused of trying to overturn the outcome of his 2022 defeat to Lula. Similarly, Trump was indicted in 2023 on allegations that he attempted to overturn the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.
That’s what Bolsonaro is I was ordered to wear ankle monitor After being considered a flight risk.
Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo celebrates the US Treasury announcement regarding X, calling it a “historic milestone” and a warning that “current authority abuses will have global consequences now.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro The company is currently under investigation as it moved to the US in March and allegedly worked with US authorities to impose sanctions against Brazilian authorities.
Also, Wednesday, Trump I signed an executive order To implement the 50% tariffs announced earlier this month. The White House said in a statement that the order was a response to Brazil’s “recent policies, practices and actions” and “constituently constitute an extraordinary and extraordinary threat to US national security, foreign policy and the economy.”
It was a change in the rationale for tariffs. The legal basis for the July 9th threat was an early executive order, assuming that trade imbalances were a threat to the US economy. However, the US operated a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to the US Census Bureau.
In orders Wednesday, Trump stated Brazil’s policy and criminal prosecution. Former President Jia Bolsonaro It constitutes an economic emergency under the 1977 law.
After tariffs were announced earlier this month, Lula said Trump was not elected “the emperor of the world.” He defended Brazilian sovereignty and Brazilian judicial independence.
Lula has called emergency meetings with several ministers following the events on Wednesday, local newspaper O Globo reported.
The left-wing president previously approved a law Wednesday calling it “Sacred Sovereignty Day” and prohibiting the use of live animals in laboratory testing of personal hygiene products, cosmetics and perfumes.
In a video posted to social media, Lula said she quickly left the event in the capital, Brasilia, to defend “the sovereignty of the people of Brazil in light of measures announced by the US president.”
The Wednesday order, originally scheduled to go into effect on August 1, said the duties would come into effect seven days after signing.
Flavia Ross, professor of international relations at the Foundation Sociology and Politics School in Sao Paulo, said sanctions and customs orders against Moraes marked an escalation of tensions between the US and Brazil.
“We’re not talking about the usual commercial conflicts between countries, we’re talking about using commercial tools to force what happens in Brazil,” Ross said.
Brazil’s Human Rights Watch said in X that sanctions are “a clear violation of the independence of judicial and democratic pillars.”
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