US Lifts Sanctions On Brazilian Judge Alexandre De Moraes, Also Delists His Wife - Here's Why

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The United States on Friday removed Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from its sanctions list, reversing an earlier decision to add him to the list over his role in leading the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

De Moraes' wife and the Lex Institute, which she oversees, were also taken off the list, according to documents from the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces US sanctions programmes.

Brazil's government celebrated the decision, which came after a phone conversation over the weekend between US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bloomberg reported.

Why was the couple sanctioned?

In July, the Trump administration had sanctioned the judge, accusing him of exploiting his position to authorize arbitrary pretrial detentions and curtail freedom of expression in Brazil.

A senior Trump administration official said the sanctions were removed after the US viewed the passage of a significant amnesty bill by Brazil's lower house as a sign that conditions of“lawfare” in the country are improving.

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The move marks a tentative thawing in the previously frosty relationship between the two governments and comes after several meetings and calls that both sides have described in positive terms. Trump had considered Lula's predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro as an ally, with the Brazilian leader even earning the nickname“Trump of the Tropics" when he took office.

What were the accusations against Jair Bolsonaro?

The Brazilian leader had allegedly been the mastermind behind a plot to stay in power despite his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Trump had also faced similar charges in 2021 after a mob of supporters attacked the US Capitol in an attempt to stop Democrat Joe Biden from taking the White House.

As a result, Bolsonaro was convicted and sentenced to over 27 years in prison. The embattled 70-year-old began serving his sentence last month, while still seeking to be placed under house arrest due to his deteriorating health.

The big political shake-up his allies expected after his arrest never materialised, though he still holds significant influence as next year's elections approach, Bloomberg reported.

Brazil's govt opposes the lifting of sanctions

However, Brazil's current government called the US decision of lifting the sanctions a“big defeat” for Bolsonaro and his family.

Brazil's minister for institutional relations Gleisi Hoffmann alleged that it was President Lula who put the repeal of the sanctions on Donald Trump's desk, in“dignifying and sovereign dialogue.”

“It is a big defeat for the family of Jair Bolsonaro, traitors who have conspired against Brazil and the judiciary,” he added.

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Lula's left-leaning administration has long accused Eduardo Bolsonaro, a lawmaker and son of the former president, of misleading Trump regarding de Moraes and other Supreme Court Justices. Eduardo Bolsonaro, for his part, said he received the news of the sanctions being lifted from de Moraes“with regret.”

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

When the US first sanctioned de Moraes, it did so under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, a law aimed at punishing human rights violators and corrupt officials, Bloomberg reported.

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