The United States removes Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes from its sanctions list

The United States dismissed the judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil Alexandre de Moraes from its sanctions list on Friday after initially adding him for his role in directing the trial against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

De Moraes’ wife and the Lex Institute, which she runs, were also removed from the list, according to documents from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Brazil’s government welcomed the move, which came after a weekend phone conversation between President Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The Trump administration had sanctioned the judge in July, accusing him of using his position to authorize arbitrary preventive detentions and suppress freedom of expression in Brazil.

In August 2024, by Moraes also ordered that Elon Musk’s X platform be suspended in Brazil over accusations that it was not doing enough to combat misinformation. the ban on site It was lifted two months later. At the time, Musk was a major Trump ally and was helping fund his presidential campaign.

A senior Trump administration official said the sanctions were lifted because the United States saw the passage of a major amnesty bill by Brazil’s lower house as a sign that law enforcement conditions in Brazil are improving. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s views on foreign policy interests.

The move represents something of a thaw in the frosty relationship between the two governments and follows a series of meetings and calls that both have described in positive terms. Trump had viewed Lula’s predecessor Bolsonaro as an ally, and the Brazilian leader was even dubbed the “Trump of the tropics” when he took office.

During Bolsonaro’s trial, Trump called his treatment an “international disgrace.” In a July 9 letter to Lula posted on social media, Trump said the trial was a “witch hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”

And in announcing Moraes’ sanction in July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged that the judge had “abused his authority by engaging in a targeted and politically motivated effort designed to silence political critics by issuing secret orders forcing online platforms, including American social media companies, to ban the accounts of individuals who posted protected speech. Moraes further abused his position to authorize unjust pretrial detentions and undermine free speech.”

Bolsonaro was accused of masterminding a plot to remain in power despite his 2022 election loss to Lula.

He was convicted and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. The embattled 70-year-old leader began serving his sentence last month while still requesting to be placed under house arrest due to his poor health. The mass unrest that his allies expected after his arrest did not materialize, although he remains a politically powerful figure ahead of next year’s elections.

Brazil’s current government characterized the lifting of sanctions as a “major defeat” for Bolsonaro’s family.

“It was Lula who put this repeal [of the sanctions] “On Donald Trump’s desk, in a dignified and sovereign dialogue,” said Gleisi Hoffmann, Brazil’s Minister of Institutional Relations. “It is a great defeat for Jair Bolsonaro’s family, traitors who have conspired against Brazil and the judiciary.”

Lula’s leftist administration has long accused Eduardo Bolsonaro, a lawmaker and the former president’s son, of misleading Trump about De Moraes and other members of the court. Eduardo Bolsonaro said he received “with regret” the news of the lifting of sanctions by De Moraes.

The younger Bolsonaro, who announced in March that he would begin living in the United States to pressure the Trump administration to help his father avoid jail, said he would continue fighting for Jair Bolsonaro.

“The lack of internal cohesion and insufficient support for initiatives carried out abroad contributed to the worsening of the current situation,” wrote Eduardo Bolsonaro on his social networks, after Trump’s change of course. “We sincerely hope that President Donald Trump’s decision will be successful in defending the strategic interests of the American people, as is his duty.”

In initially sanctioning de Moraes, the Treasury Department had cited the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of human rights abuses and corrupt officials. De Moraes said the use of the law against him was “illegal and regrettable.”

Also in July, the Trump administration imposed a 40% tariff on Brazilian goods, on top of a 10% tariff imposed previously, justifying the tariffs by saying Brazil’s policies and criminal prosecution of Bolsonaro constituted an economic emergency.

However, last month the White House announced was eliminating 40% tariffs on certain Brazilian imports, including beef and coffee. The United States had a trade surplus of $6.8 billion last year with Brazil, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Trump and Lula began patching things up at the United Nations General Assembly in September, followed by their first private meeting in Malaysia in October and subsequent telephone conversations.

The Brazilian president has said he was not only trying to reverse the increase in tariffs but also to end sanctions on De Moraes and some members of his government who were also affected by the measure.

Furthermore, Lula has urged Latin American states to help avoid a conflict in Venezuela as the Trump administration did. orders military action against vessels allegedly linked to drug cartels.