MIAMI - The U.S. announced on Friday the removal of sanctions on a controversial Supreme Court Justice who oversaw the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Alexandre de Moraes, a Justice of the Supreme Federal Court in Brasília, was the target of U.S. sanctions under the Magnitsky Act in July, an imposition that also targeted de Moraes' wife, barring the couple from entry into the United States and allowing their assets eligible for freezing by U.S. authorities.
The Magnitsky sanctions, which target individuals of foreign governments suspected of human rights violations, were part of the Trump administration's mid-year battle with the Brazilian administration of President Lula da Silva over allegations of political and judicial persecution of Lula's political opposition, and his primary contender for next year's presidential election, former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro–dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics"–was convicted in September by the nation's Supreme Court and was later ordered to serve a 27-year sentence by de Moraes for his involvement in an attempted coup following Bolsonaro's defeat to President Lula in 2022.
Supporters of Bolsonaro claim that he is the victim of a political "witch hunt", a claim that President Trump repeatedly echoed in Washington when asked about the matter.
Conservative populists in Brazil remained hopeful that the Trump White House would continue to leverage its influence in Brazil's politics and remain supportive of Bolsonaro's efforts to make a political comeback into the national fray and overcome his complicated legal troubles with de Moraes and the Lula administration.
The Lula government took umbrage with the U.S. administration's attempt to play an active part in Brazilian politics, calling the actions by the Trump White House "foreign interference" and an affront to the nation's national and political sovereignty.
The dispute with officials in Washington and the administration in Brazil was exacerbated by U.S. accusations of censorship by the Lula government in Justice de Moraes, who sought to limit X's access to the Brazilian public after de Moraes claimed that U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk's social media company failed to adhere to national Brazilian law. A claim that U.S. officials rejected.
The Trump administration also slapped Brazil with 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in July, punishing the Lula government for censorship practices and the alleged persecution of the conservative opposition. The move created political turmoil with Brazilian distributors scrambling to find alternative buyers for Brazilian goods.
In October, Trump and Lula made an unexpected rapprochement at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, where the pair agreed to set up further talks to discuss opportunities for trade between the two American nations.
In November, President Trump agreed to suspend U.S. tariffs.
The decision to now lift U.S. sanctions from such a high-profile figure in the Brazilian government, following a period of such intense acrimony between the two governments, represents a shift in the relationship between the two diametrically opposed leaders on political ideology, and perhaps a cooling of relations between the two governments.
A senior U.S. official in the Trump administration said the removal of the sanctions on Mr. de Moraes was due to the recent passage of an important legislative measure that provided amnesty for members of the political opposition.
The amnesty bill was voted on and approved by Brazil's lower house in Brasília and is viewed by officials in Washington as a sign of important first steps in improving conditions in the South American nation's contentious political landscape and a departure from alleged "lawfare".
