MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US sanctions against De Moraes not to be ruled out

“There is a strong possibility that it will happen,” Rubio told the US Congress

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted he was considering the possibility of sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act for alleged human rights violations. The magistrate is targeting former President Jair Bolsonaro for the alleged Jan. 8, 2023, coup attempt, together with many of his aides and followers.

Rubio’s comments came during a US House hearing where Congressman Cory Mills criticized Brazil for “widespread censorship and political persecution” targeting Bolsonaro, journalists, and citizens, including actions affecting US-based individuals. “We have witnessed widespread censorship and political persecution directed against the entire opposition, including journalists and ordinary citizens. What they are now doing is imprisoning, eminently for political reasons, former President Bolsonaro,” Mills said.

Asked by Mills about the likelihood of De Moraes being sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act, which punishes foreigners involved in serious human rights violations or acts of corruption worldwide, Rubio replied that “it is being reviewed at the moment, and there is a strong possibility that it will happen.”

De Moraes has clashed with figures like Elon Musk by suspending platforms like X and Rumble for refusing to block accounts spreading what was deemed to be misinformation, in a move to protect Brazil's democracy.

Brazil’s Workers Party (PT) of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejected Rubio’s threats as an attack on national sovereignty, emphasizing the South American country's judicial independence and democratic integrity.

“Brazil is a sovereign nation that bases its external relations on the principles of non-intervention, self-determination of peoples and equality among States,” PT Congressman Lindbergh Farias wrote in a note reaffirming the country's “repudiation of any attempt of external interference in the internal affairs of the country, especially when it comes to judicial decisions that seek to protect the Democratic Rule of Law.”

“We will not tolerate any form of foreign submission or interference in our legal system. Our commitment is to a fair, democratic, and sovereign country, in which the people decide their destiny without external interference,” the declaration further stated.