Rubio warns Brazil of US response after Bolsonaro’s conviction for plotting a coup

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio The U.S. will respond after former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lost his coup in the 2022 election, although the secretary did not elaborate on what the U.S. response looks like, the secretary said on Thursday.

Rubio wrote on X: “The political persecution of Alexandre de Moraes, a abuser who ratifies human rights violations, continues as he and others in the Brazilian Supreme Court unjustly rule that former President Jair Bolsonaro imprisoned the former president.”

He continued: “The United States will respond accordingly to this kind of witch hunt.”

Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rubio’s comments represent a threat, “attacking Brazilian authorities, ignoring the facts and compelling evidence in the record.”

Trump manages sanctions Brazilian judge oversees Bolsonaro coup detection

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will respond after former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The ministry said Brazilian democracy will not be intimidated by the U.S. government.

Bolsonaro was sentenced He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison when convicted by the country’s Supreme Court on Thursday, a charge that orchestrated a coup in January 2023 to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lulada Silva from taking office.

The former Brazilian leader is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Well, I watched this trial. I know him very well. I think he is a good president of Brazil and it’s surprising that it may happen like they tried to do with me, but they didn’t escape at all, but Trump told reporters that legal cases against the U.S. president in recent years have been said in New York State, including his conviction.

He added: “But I can always say this: I know him as the president of Brazil. He is a good person.”

Rubio announces “politics” against Brazilian judges and “politicality” of former president Bolsonaro

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison. (Reuters)

Trump criticized Brazil’s judicial system and threatened the country’s tariffs on Bolsonaro’s case.

In July, the U.S. president imposed a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods in response to the “witch hunting” on Bolsonaro. Later, he exempted some Brazilian exports, including passenger cars and many parts and components used in civil aircraft.

Rubio said Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whose allies and his immediate family members who were not designated in court, would face visa revocation, criticized what he called the former president’s “political witch hunt.”

That same month, Rubio announced a visa to Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over Bolsenro’s criminal case, whose unspecified allies were in the court after the court issued a search warrant and restricted the orders against Bolsenro.

The U.S. Treasury Department also approved allegations that judges authorized arbitrary pre-trial detention and suppression of freedom of speech.

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)

Click here to get the Fox News app

Bolsonaro’s son, Brazilian MP Eduardo Bolsonaro, said he expects he will impose more sanctions on the Brazilian justices after his father is convicted.

“We will respond firmly to the U.S. government’s actions to the dictatorship installed in Brazil,” he told Reuters on Thursday.

He warned that justices who voted to convict the former president could face sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, which the Trump administration had previously used against De Moraes.

“If these Supreme Court judges continue to follow Moraes, they are at risk of the same sanctions,” he said.

Reuters contributed to the report.