Brazil’s Bolsonaro Coup trial continues!
Brasília, Jul 18 (EFE).- By Eduardo Davis
Brazil’s Supreme Court ignored pressure from United States President Donald Trump regarding the coup trial against former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), and on Friday issued new precautionary measures, including electronic monitoring via an ankle bracelet.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur for the coup trial, accused Bolsonaro of obstructing justice for “inducing, instigating, and assisting a foreign government in carrying out hostile acts against Brazil.”
De Moraes’ decision pointed to Trump’s threat to impose 50% tariffs on Brazil if the “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro does not cease, as he wrote in a public letter last week.
In addition to the ankle bracelet, the judge issued other precautionary measures: Bolsonaro must remain at home at night and is prohibited from using social media, contacting foreign diplomats, approaching embassies, or speaking with other defendants, including his son, Congressman Eduardo, who has been in the United States for almost five months.
Since settling in the US, the congressman has maintained contacts with politicians close to Trump and State Department officials in search of “justice” for his father.
According to de Moraes, Eduardo Bolsonaro’s activities, financed by his father, are an “ostensible attempt to subject the functioning of the Supreme Court to the United States” to “close/extinguish” the coup-plotting case.
‘Supreme humiliation’
After leaving the Federal Police headquarters with the ankle bracelet, Bolsonaro made a pun and told reporters that he had been subjected to a “supreme humiliation.”
He reiterated his innocence, calling the trial against him “political” and denying any conspiracy against democracy, after losing the 2022 elections to the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
As he did in court, he confessed to exploring alternatives in the Constitution to contest the election results, emphasizing that the options were not implemented.
“They want to criminalize thought,” he added.
Despite having his passport held by the court and being prohibited from leaving the country, he admitted to suggesting traveling to the US. However, he claimed it would be to negotiate the tariff issue with Trump, given his proximity to the US president, not to flee justice.
Regarding his son’s efforts, he stated that “he is in the United States fighting for democracy and freedom.”
Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro posted a note on social media linking his father’s legal situation to Trump’s tariff threat, describing it as a “legitimate action by the US government.”
According to him, “Alexandre de Moraes is trying to criminalize Trump and the US government itself.”
Lula does not accept ‘blackmail’
On Friday, Lula participated in a public event and avoided referring to the new court decision against Bolsonaro.
On Thursday, however, he said he considered Trump’s position on the judicial process to be “unacceptable blackmail in the form of threats to Brazilian institutions and false information about trade between the two countries,” which has favored the United States for 15 years.
He assured that Brazil has “an independent judiciary” and that “attempting to interfere” in its decisions “is a serious attack on national sovereignty.”
In a reference to Bolsonaro and his supporters, including Congressman Eduardo, Lula said that he is more indignant knowing that this attack has the support of some Brazilian politicians.
“They are true traitors to the country, betting that the worse things get, the better. They don’t care about the country’s economy or the damage caused to our people,” he concluded. EFE ed/mcd
