Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to be placed under house arrest following judicial rulings that he violated restrictions in a coup case. The court also barred him from using cell phones and receiving visitors, except for his legal team. The court ruled that Bolsonaro violated judicial precautionary measures imposed on him last month and used the social media accounts of his three sons to publish messages ‘clearly encouraging and instigating attacks on the Federal Supreme Court and overtly supporting foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary.’ The case has already led to tensions with the United States after President Donald Trump called it a ‘witch hunt’ and imposed steep 50% tariffs on Brazil.
Last week, the US president accused Brasilia of various human rights abuses and of unfairly persecuting Bolsonaro, and imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods – the highest rate currently levied by the US. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has condemned Trump’s attempts to use tariffs to pressure Brazil over Bolsonaro’s trial. Speaking at a Workers’ Party event in Brasilia on Sunday, Lula accused Washington of using Brazil’s internal affairs as a pretext for sanctions, and stressed that the US ‘already helped stage a coup’ in the country.
The US wants to ‘end multilateralism’ and return to ‘country-to-country deals where the big dominate the small,’ he said. Brazil is no longer economically dependent on the US, and while it is open to negotiating, it will do so on ‘equal terms,’ Lula added, reaffirming his push to stop being ‘subordinate to the dollar.’ Trump has repeatedly threatened extra 10% tariffs against BRICS members such as Brazil, accusing them of attempting to dethrone the US dollar as the global reserve currency. The economic bloc has denied the claims, arguing that Washington’s own political actions undermine the greenback.