The morning after the U.S. softened tariffs on Brazil — tariffs originally imposed partly because of the @jairbolsonaro witch hunt — Alexandre de Moraes escalated that witch hunt to an entirely new level.
Today he threw Bolsonaro into preventive detention on reasoning so flimsy it borders on satire. His detention was justified on the basis of:
• an unspecified “ankle monitor violation” with no evidence or explanation;
• a peaceful vigil outside his home;
• and — unbelievably — the fact that Bolsonaro lives 13 km from the U.S. Embassy.
Yes. Moraes literally argued that because Bolsonaro lives a short drive from the American Embassy, he might try to flee there. As if the United States, which sanctioned Moraes for human rights abuses, would smuggle him out of Brazil.
It is hard to imagine a more gratuitous insult to @realDonaldTrump and @SecRubio.
Preventive detention in Brazil requires concrete evidence of flight risk, objective acts of obstruction, and a finding that no lesser measure would work.
Moraes provided none. He simply described a hypothetical escape plot based on geography, speculation, and fear of a peaceful crowd.
And he did it one day after the U.S. extended an olive branch on tariffs. The timing is defiant.
Whether you support Bolsonaro or not, jailing a former president based on his driving distance from the U.S. Embassy is not the rule of law.
It is bad faith. It is politics.
And it is an extraordinary display of disrespect toward the Trump administration that acted in good faith just hours earlier.
https://t.co/NVi3DpnKAM
Moraes just blew up Lula’s diplomacy.
@LulaOficial and @geraldoalckmin have been working around the clock for months trying to stabilize Brazil’s relationship with the U.S. They know Brazil is on thin ice with @realDonaldTrump. And they finally got the first sign of goodwill yesterday.
The next morning Moraes torpedoes the entire diplomatic effort with one decision, the exact kind of excess that triggered the crisis in the first place.
While Lula’s team is desperately trying to rebuild trust with the U.S., Moraes is doing everything possible to prove why he was sanctioned in the first place.
If Brazil wants credibility abroad, it might start by getting its own house in order because right now, one man is undoing everyone else’s work in real time.