President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked visas for Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his court allies, as well as their immediate family members, escalating a diplomatic dispute over the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the action on Friday, citing concerns over what he called a “political witch hunt” against Bolsonaro. The move comes as Brazilian authorities ordered Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor and imposed strict restrictions on his movement and communications.
Bolsonaro was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor earlier Friday by authorities amid concerns he could flee to the United States and seek asylum from his ally Trump. Bolsonaro’s press office confirmed the electronic tag had been installed as part of precautionary measures ordered by Brazil’s Supreme Court.
The ankle monitor requirement coincided with federal police raids on Bolsonaro’s residence and his party’s headquarters in Brasília, people familiar with the court order told the Associated Press. Officers executed search-and-seizure warrants as part of ongoing investigations in which the former president is accused of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election results that brought Workers’ Party President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power.
Local media reports indicate that Bolsonaro faces additional restrictions beyond the ankle monitor, including prohibitions on social media use and contact with other individuals under Supreme Court investigation. Most notably, he is barred from communicating with his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker residing in the U.S. who maintains close ties to Trump.
A police statement regarding the raids confirmed that officers carried out “two search and seizure warrants, in addition to precautionary measures other than arrest, in compliance with a decision by the Supreme Court,” though the statement did not specifically name the former Brazilian president as the target.
The visa restrictions are implemented under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the secretary of state to deny entry to individuals whose presence would have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Rubio ordered visa revocations for Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his allies on the Brazilian Supreme Court, along with their immediate family members, effective immediately. The action targets the judge overseeing the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who’s accused of attempting to stage a coup following his 2022 election defeat.
Rubio specifically accused Moraes of creating “a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans.” The State Department characterized the restrictions as holding foreign nationals accountable for what it termed “censorship of protected expression in the United States.”
Trump has directly linked these judicial proceedings to his trade policy with Brazil, threatening a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods after August 1, following failed negotiations for a new trade agreement. In correspondence with Lula, Trump explicitly tied these tariffs to Bolsonaro’s case, calling the trial an “international disgrace” and a “Witch Hunt” in his opening paragraph.
Trump wrote a letter addressed to Bolsonaro expressing support and criticizing the “terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” which he shared on Truth Social last week.
Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a report to the Supreme Court that the “evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law.”
Bolsonaro has described the trial on X, formerly Twitter, as a “witch hunt,” echoing the term used by Trump when he came to his South American ally’s defense.
Trump has compared the Brazilian’s situation to his own, having faced numerous legal challenges, including cases related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol waged by his supporters who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The president has also threatened additional 10 percent tariffs on “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS,” the group of 10 developing economies in which Brazil serves as a key member.
Rubio, in a statement on Friday: “President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States. Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans.”
Bolsonaro told reporters on Friday: “It is a supreme humiliation. I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that.”
Gonet: “The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law.”
Trump, in his tariff letter earlier this month: “This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
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