Threatening courts in LATAM is becoming a pattern for Marco Rubio
First in Colombia, now in Brazil, Rubio's sense of 'justice' in the Americas seems to mean supporting right-wingers at all costs
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup to illegally retain power after his 2022 electoral defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Four of five Supreme Court justices voted to convict, with one recommending he be acquitted. Within hours, the 70-year-old ex-military captain was convicted to 27 years in prison.
Judges also stated that Bolsonaro knew of a potential plot to kill President Lula.
Almost immediately after the announcement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to his X account to attack Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has become a target of verbal attacks as well as sanctions by the Trump administration in recent months.
Calling the verdict a “political persecution” by “human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes”, Rubio claimed that the Brazilian Supreme Court “unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro. The United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”
It isn’t the first time the US has tried to interfere in the justice system of a Latin American country. Rubio, who has strongly supported Bukele’s long-running extralegal actions violating the Salvadoran Constitution, also attacked Colombian courts after the conviction of former President Álvaro Uribe.
Within minutes of being announced, Rubio called the decision a “weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges.”
It is a developing pattern for Rubio: weighing in, and even threatening courts that have exposed the crimes of right-wing leaders he views as allies in Latin America.
Brazil’s foreign ministry responded swiftly and forcefully to Rubio, posting on X that “threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy”.
Brazilian justices ruled that Bolsonaro was guilty on five counts of leading a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his co-conspirators, including senior military officers. Among them are two former defence ministers, a former spy chief, and a former security minister.
US President Donald Trump has publicly disparaged the ongoing trial for months. He has called the trial a“witch-hunt”, and hit Brazil with 50 percent tariffs, imposed sanctions against the presiding judge, Alexandre de Moraes, and revoked visas for nearly the entire Supreme Court.
In response to the verdict on Thursday, Trump called the decision “very surprising.” He described Bolsonaro as a “good man” and described the trial as being “very much like they tried to do with me.”
Trump famously refused to accept the election results in the US in 2020, and faced charges for conspiracy and obstruction, but the federal cases were dismissed after he won a second presidential term in November 2024.
Bolsonaro still has the chance to appeal, but success seems unlikely with a supermajority of judges having voted to convict.
In response to Trump’s campaign supporting Bolsonaro, current Brazilian president Lula has stated that the US president “was not elected to be emperor of the world,” stating that if his actions had taken place in Brazil, Trump would “likely be in jail.”
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Hasta pronto, piratas!