US revokes visas of Brazilian justices after its top court cracks down on ex-president Bolsonaro

SAO PAULO, July 18 – United States will revoke visas from other seven justices of Brazilian Supreme Court, in addition to judge Alexandre de Moraes, local newspaper O Globo reported on Friday, without citing its source.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier the immediate visa revocations from “Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members”, citing court orders against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil’s Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against Bolsonaro on Friday, banning him from contacting foreign officials over allegations he courted the interference of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has already tried to use pressure to help Bolsonaro by announcing a 50% tariff on goods from Latin America’s No. 1 economy.

Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believed the court orders were a reaction to Trump’s criticism of his trial before the Supreme Court for trying to overturn the last election.

The court’s crackdown on Bolsonaro added to evidence that Trump’s tactics are backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for his ideological ally and rallying public support behind a defiant leftist government.

Bolsonaro was banned from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies, according to the decision issued by Moraes, who cited a “concrete possibility” of him fleeing the country. His home was raided by federal police and he had an ankle monitor placed on him.

In an interview with Reuters at his party’s headquarters on Friday, Bolsonaro called Moraes a “dictator” and described the latest court orders as acts of “cowardice.”

“I feel supreme humiliation,” he said, when asked how he felt about wearing the ankle monitor. “I am 70 years old, I was president of the republic for four years.”

Bolsonaro denied any plans to leave the country, but said he would meet with Trump if he could get access to his passport, which police seized last year. He also said he had sought out the top U.S. diplomat in Brazil to discuss Trump’s tariff threat.

Asked about Bolsonaro’s comments to Reuters, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on Friday, citing previous comments from Trump, “Bolsonaro and his supporters are under attack from a weaponized court system.”

In his decision, Moraes said the restrictions against Bolsonaro were due to accusations that the former president was making efforts to get the “head of state of a foreign nation” to interfere in Brazilian courts, which the judge cast as an attack on national sovereignty.

Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.

Trump has in recent weeks pressed Brazil to stop the legal case against Bolsonaro, saying that his ally was the victim of a “witch hunt.” The U.S. president said last week he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods from August 1, in a letter that opened with criticism of the Bolsonaro trial.