Brazil
The judge in charge of the Bolsonaro trial stood up to Washington
The powerful magistrate Alexandre de Moraes refuses to give in to American sanctions, affirming the sovereignty of Brazilian justice.
A demonstrator holds a poster representing the judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, defying American president Donald Trump during a demonstration in São Paulo in defense of national sovereignty, on August 1, 2025.
AFP
The judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil in charge of the trial of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that he was going to “ignore” the sanctions imposed on him by the Trump administration, warning that Brazilian justice would not bend on “threats”.
Strong voice and cold anger, Alexandre de Moraes, a magistrate as powerful as criticized, made these words during a highly anticipated solemn session of the court in Brasília.
On Wednesday, the US government announced sanctions against him, but also a punitive surcharge on Brazilian products exported to the United States. Reason: a supposed “witch hunt” against the former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), currently tried for alleged coup attempt.
“Ignore sanctions”
In his speech, the judge, who became the bane of Camp Bolsonaro, said that he was going to “ignore the sanctions that were imposed and continue to work”. According to him, “the Supreme Court will be absolutely inflexible in the defense of national sovereignty and its commitment to democracy”.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department imposed economic sanctions for him as part of the Magnitsky law, usually used against foreign personalities in cases of human rights or corruption.
Donald Trump’s government accuses him of taking advantage of his position to “target political opponents, including ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, journalists, American social networks and other American and international companies.” The magistrate, and the Supreme Court in general, adopted a very firm posture in the fight against disinformation on platforms.
“Open to dialogue”
Since the start of the crisis opened by the first American announcements in early July, Donald Trump and the Brazilian left president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have not spoken. “He can talk to me when he wants,” said the White House tenant in response to a journalist on Friday. “I like the Brazilian people,” he continued, while denouncing the actions of “those who direct Brazil”.
Shortly after, Lula seemed to answer him by writing on the social network X: “We have always been opened to dialogue”. “It is the Brazilians and their institutions that define the guidelines of Brazil,” he insisted.
Faced with American pressures, the Brazilian government has defended the country’s “sovereignty” in recent weeks. Seeing an “injustice” in the 50% customs duties inflicted on his exports from August 6, despite many exemptions, he relies on negotiations to obtain their case. The question remains whether a contact between the two leaders will eventually be formed.
Friday, demonstrations against this surcharge gathered a few hundred people in front of the United States Embassy in Brasília and the consulate in São Paulo, as well as in Rio de Janeiro. In the megalopolis São Paulo, demonstrators burned a portrait of Donald Trump, wearing devil’s horns. On a large green and yellow banner, colors of Brazil, you could read: “Sovereignty is not negotiable.”
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