The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said the U.S. will “respond accordingly” to what he called a “witch hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, without specifying how.
The remarks came shortly after Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison after being convicted of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election.
The conviction was “unjustly ruled,” Rubio said in a post on X late Thursday stateside, as “the political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue.”
The U.S. Treasury Department on July 30 imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been a target of criticism by President Donald Trump for his handling of legal cases involving former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
On the same day, Trump slapped tariffs of up to 50% on most products from Brazil for its prosecution of Bolsonaro for his alleged coup attempt, drawing a pushback from the country’s incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The Brazilian leader denounced Washington’s move as an infringement on Brazil’s national sovereignty, saying his nation “will not accept anyone’s control,” according to Google translation of his social media post.
The case against those who planned a coup is a matter solely for the country’s justice system and “not subject to any inference or threats that undermine the independence of national institutions,” da Silvia added.
He also vowed to retaliate against “any unilateral tariff increases,” rebutting claims that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Brazil. Da Silvia cited U.S. official customs data, which showed a surplus of around $410 billion in trade in goods and services with Brazil over the last 15 years.
The U.S. total goods trade surplus with Brazil amounted to $154 billion from 2010 to 2024, according to the Census figures.
