US to Announce Reaction Against Brazil Over Bolsonaro Trial, Rubio Says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Donald Trump 's administration will announce a reaction against Brazil in response to the trial that convicted Jair Bolsonaro (PL) of attempted coup.

In an interview with Fox News on Monday 15, Rubio claimed that the rule of law “is collapsing” and that a judge — referring to Minister Alexandre de Moraes — persecuted the former president.

“There will be a US response to this. We will have some announcements in the next week or so about the additional measures we intend to take,” the secretary said.

Rubio also accused Moraes of attempting to take “extraterritorial action against American citizens,” referring to the judge’s rulings that have affected US-based big tech companies and some of their users.

Bolsonaro's trial, he said, is yet another chapter in a "campaign of judicial oppression" to target American companies.

The United States has already applied a 50% surcharge on imports of various products from Brazil, canceled visas for officials, and sanctioned Moraes under the Magnitsky Act.

Rubio and Trump are unaware of—or ignore— the evidence that led to Bolsonaro's conviction for coup d'état, attempted abolition of the rule of law, criminal organization, aggravated damage, and damage to a listed building.

When justifying the calculation of the sentence of 27 years and three months in prison, Moraes stated that the former captain “acted to instrumentalize the state apparatus with the intention of causing social instability and remaining in power”.

According to the minister, anyone who reaches the highest office in the Republic is expected to act with institutional rigor, "which was not seen." On the contrary, the rapporteur continued, the operation of a criminal organization aimed at destabilizing democratic institutions was established, which makes the former president's culpability "highly unfavorable."

Moraes also highlighted that the crimes sought to “annihilate the foundations of the Democratic Rule of Law.”