President Donald Trump declared Brazil a national security threat on Wednesday, imposing sanctions on Supreme Federal Tribunal Justice Alexandre de Moraes over human rights abuses.
According to Breitbart, the sanctions fall under the Global Magnitsky Act, freezing de Moraes' U.S.-based assets and prohibiting transactions between the justice and American entities. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that de Moraes has conducted "an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions."
The Trump administration cited de Moraes' "consistent pattern of persecuting conservative political activity" as justification for the sanctions. This includes arbitrary detentions, denial of fair trial guarantees, censorship, punishing free speech, and other human rights abuses that directly affect U.S. interests and citizens.
De Moraes, who joined Brazil's top court in 2017, has led efforts against what he claims are "fake news circulators" and "anti-democratic digital militias" in recent years. The justice has targeted former President Jair Bolsonaro, his family, other conservative politicians, and citizens supportive of Bolsonaro through various legal actions and restrictions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that de Moraes "abused his authority by engaging in a targeted and politically motivated effort designed to silence political critics." These efforts included compelling U.S. social media companies to ban accounts for protected speech and authorizing what the U.S. considers unjust pre-trial detentions.
De Moraes' actions have included freezing bank assets, imposing travel bans, authorizing police raids, and approving arrests of those he targets. The justice has repeatedly signed censorship orders against American social media platforms, threatening hefty daily fines for non-compliance.
President Trump issued an executive order addressing the threat posed by Brazil's government while imposing a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods entering the United States. The tariffs are scheduled to take effect on Friday, August 1, creating significant economic pressure on Brazil.
Trump described the situation as a "national emergency" for America in his executive order. The president stated that Brazil's actions "threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" through judicial overreach.
Trump's order specifically mentioned that Brazil's judicial actions "endanger the economy of the United States by tyrannically and arbitrarily coercing United States companies to censor political speech." He added that these actions also "chill and limit expression in the United States, violate human rights, and undermine the interest that the United States has in protecting its citizens and companies."
Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal released a brief statement expressing solidarity with de Moraes and defending his decisions. The court claimed that all decisions made by de Moraes against Bolsonaro were "confirmed by the competent Collegiate Body" and asserted that it "will not deviate from complying with the Constitution."
De Moraes has not publicly commented on the sanctions, but CNN Brasil reported that he is preparing a response speech to President Trump. The justice reportedly plans to deliver this speech on Friday, August 1, when the top court resumes its work.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejected what he called "unacceptable interference" by the U.S. government in Brazil's judicial system. Lula defended de Moraes by claiming that "any attempt to weaken the Brazilian judiciary constitutes a threat to the democratic regime itself."
Lula's 2022 presidential campaign directly benefited from de Moraes' censorship actions against his opponent Bolsonaro. During that campaign, de Moraes forbade Bolsonaro from referring to Lula as a "thief" or "corrupt" despite Lula's multiple corruption convictions.
The Brazilian president stated that his government considers the reasons for the upcoming tariffs "unjustifiable" but remains willing to negotiate commercial aspects of its relationship with the United States. Lula emphasized that Brazil "will not relinquish the instruments of defense provided for in its legislation" while beginning to assess the impact of the measures.
Estadão, a Brazilian newspaper, reported that de Moraes was attending a soccer match when the U.S. announced its sanctions. According to the report, the justice smiled, waved, and raised his middle finger to the crowd during the match, suggesting his dismissive attitude toward the U.S. actions.
