On Thursday, four of five judges of Brazil’s supreme court voted to convict its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for plotting a coup and several crimes relating to it. However, the U.S. found the decision to be “unjustly ruled” and promised to “respond accordingly.”
Bolsonaro was charged for taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democracy, organizing a coup, and damaging government property and protected cultural assets. The court found that there is enough evidence that he committed these crimes and sentenced him for 27 years and three months in prison.
He was the 38th president of Brazil that ran the office from 2019 to 2023. In the 2022 election, Bolsonaro lost to the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, by a small margin. However, on January 8, 2023, his supporters attempted to launch a coup d’état and reinstate him.
Still, the case against the former president seems to damage the relationship between the U.S. and Brazil as the U.S. President Donald Trump, who is Bolsonaro’s long term ally, vowed to intervene.
Before the ruling, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Brazil Supreme Federal Court Justice while Trump himself imposed a 50% tariff on most of Brazil’s goods. The department also vowed to hold everyone involved in this trial accountable.
Da Silvia, however, denounced the U.S.’ action, stating that Brazil “will not accept anyone’s control.” He also promised to retaliate against “any unilateral tariff increases,” while citing the fact that the U.S. had a trade surplus with Brazil about USD 410 billion over the last 15 years.
Analysts from Morningstar stated that the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Brazil has reached the lowest point in decades and the possibility of de-escation in the near term is low. Furthermore, the analysts added that “the relationship is set to worsen before it gets better.”
