Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Brazil's Political Coup, Replicating January 6 Insurrection

Sep 13, 2025 | Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison hours after being convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election, dealing a powerful rebuke to one of the world's most prominent far-right nationalist leaders.

The conviction ruling by a panel of five justices on Brazil's Supreme Court, who also agreed on the sentence, made the 70-year-old Bolsonaro the first former president in the country's history to be convicted for attacking democracy, and drew disapproval from the Trump administration.


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Bolsonaro Supporters Flood Streets Ahead of His Expected Conviction

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tensions are heating up in Brazil as the nation enters the final week of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s trial on attempted coup charges.

Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on the nation’s Independence Day on Sunday in dueling political protests, opening a tense week that is expected to conclude with the conviction of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The largely peaceful demonstrations played out in cities across the nation.

On the right, Brazilians draped in Brazilian and American flags protested the criminal prosecution of Mr. Bolsonaro on charges that he attempted to hold on to power after losing the 2022 election. On the left, people called for Mr. Bolsonaro’s imprisonment and denounced efforts by President Trump to protect the former leader.

By Sunday afternoon, aerial images from multiple protests left little question that Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters significantly outnumbered protesters on the left, showing that — even amid his legal troubles — he remains a significant political force in Brazil.

But will it matter?

On Friday, Brazil’s Supreme Court is widely expected to convict Mr. Bolsonaro on charges that he attempted a coup. He could face more than 40 years in prison. » | Jack Nicas and Ana Ionova | Reporting from Rio de Janeiro and Brasília | Sunday, September 7, 2025

Brésil : des milliers de partisans de Bolsonaro dans la rue avant le verdict de la Cour suprême : L’ancien président, jugé pour tentative de coup d’État, sera éclairé sur son sort le 12 septembre. En attendant, il clame son innocence et crie à la persécution politique. »

Brazil Judge Orders Round-the-clock Surveillance of ‘Flight Risk’ Bolsonaro

THE GUARDIAN: Pre-trial monitoring ordered after police reported former president had drafted request for asylum in Argentina

Jair Bolsonaro must be under constant police surveillance, a supreme court justice has ruled, to prevent Brazil’s former president from fleeing days before the start of the trial that could see him jailed for more than 40 years.

The far-right leader has been wearing an electronic ankle tag since mid-July and has been under house arrest since early August. But last Monday, the prosecutor general asked the supreme court to tighten surveillance of the 70-year-old, after federal police reported he had even drafted a request for political asylum in Argentina.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Alexandre de Moraes agreed there was a “risk of flight” and ordered police to monitor Bolsonaro’s Brasília mansion 24 hours a day. » | Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro | Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Jair Bolsonaro Planned to Seek Asylum in Argentina, Brazil’s Police Say

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The police said they found a request for asylum, addressed to Argentina’s leader, on the phone of the Brazilian ex-president, who is accused of plotting a coup.

Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president accused of plotting a coup, made plans to seek political asylum in Argentina last year, Brazil’s federal police said on Wednesday, citing a document seized from his mobile phone.

The police said they had recovered a 33-page draft asylum request from the phone that was addressed to President Javier Milei of Argentina, a fellow right-wing leader. The document said that Mr. Bolsonaro was suffering political persecution in Brazil, that he expected to be illegally imprisoned and that he feared for his life.

The asylum request was not dated, but the police said it was saved on Mr. Bolsonaro’s phone in February 2024, two days after they carried out a sweeping operation that targeted the former president and about two dozen of his political allies. The police confiscated Mr. Bolsonaro’s passport, arrested some of his top aides and searched their homes and offices during that operation. Days later, Mr. Bolsonaro spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil in an apparent bid for asylum aimed at another right-wing ally, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, reporting by The New York Times revealed. In an interview earlier this year, Mr. Bolsonaro refused to explain why he had slept at the embassy. » | Ana Ionova | Reporting from Rio de Janeiro | Wednesday, August 20, 2025

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Brazil: Bolsonaro under House Arrest, Escalating Tensions with Trump

Aug 5, 2025 | Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been placed under house arrest by the Supreme Court.

He’s on trial for allegedly masterminding a coup to remain in office after he was defeated at the ballot box in 2022. The far-right leader denies he tried to overthrow the country’s current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Donald Trump’s administration has condemned the arrest calling it politically motivated and a silencing of the opposition.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge Orders House Arrest of Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro

THE GUARDIAN: Bolsonaro accused of breaking ‘preventative measures’ imposed amid concerns of avoiding penalty over alleged coup attempt

A Brazilian supreme court judge has ordered the house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly breaching “preventative measures” which were imposed amid concerns the far-right leader might abscond to avoid punishment over an alleged coup attempt.

According to the ruling on Monday by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Bolsonaro breached a ban on using social media which was imposed last month, when he was also ordered to wear an electronic ankle tag. » | Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro | Monday, August 4, 2025

Trump Hits Brazil with Tariffs over Bolsonaro Trial | DW News

Aug 2, 2025 | Brazil’s finance minister says the Trump administration’s tariffs are “more favourable” than he expected, but that there is still “a lot of injustice” in the measures. Trump's order adds a 40 percent levy on Brazilian goods, bringing the total up to 50 percent. The tariffs affect coffee and meat, two major Brazilian exports, but exempts hundreds of other products. Today in Sao Paulo, demonstrators gathered outside the US Consulate. They claim that Trump is using tariffs to force Brazil into dropping the trial of his ally, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

How Trump Is Deploying 50% Tariff Threats to Sway Probe into Bolsonaro's Alleged Coup Plot | DW News

Apr 3, 2025 | Supporters of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro are holding rallies across the country. Demonstrations are planned in more than 60 cities including in Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro has been accused of plotting to overturn his election defeat in 2022. The demonstrators are calling for the charges against him to be dropped and for judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the trial, to be impeached. Bolsonaro himself can't attend any of the rallies. Brazil's Supreme Court has placed him under house arrest at night and on weekends while his case is being adjudicated.

Trump Attacks Brazil to Weaken BRICS. Lula Pushes Back: We Don't Want US 'Emperor' or 'World Police'

Aug 2, 2025 | The White House imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil and declared it a threat to US "national security". Donald Trump is blatantly meddling in internal Brazilian affairs, trying to undermine left-wing President Lula da Silva and help far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro. The USA's attacks also aim to divide BRICS and discourage more countries from joining. Political economist Ben Norton explains how the US empire is attacking the Global South's multipolar project.

‘Classic Tinpot Dictator’: Trump Exports His Assault on Democracy to Brazil

THE GUARDIAN: US president seems to be weaponizing tariffs to punish Brazil for its coup trial against his ally Bolsonaro

Over the past six months, Donald Trump has been accused of rapidly dragging the largest democracy in the Americas towards authoritarianism. Now, the US president seems bent on undermining the region’s second largest democracy too.

Since early July, Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Brazil’s institutions, slapping 50% tariffs on imports from the South American country and sanctions on a supreme court judge – partly in retribution for what he called the political persecution of his ally, Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly masterminding a failed coup.

“Rarely since the end of the cold war has the United States interfered so deeply with a Latin American country,” the Economist declared last week.

“I feel for the Brazilians,” said Steven Levitsky, the Harvard University political scientist who co-wrote How Democracies Die, a bestselling book about democratic erosion.

“This is a very authoritarian political force that’s doing enormous damage to my country’s democratic institutions and rights – and I wish it would stop at that. It’s painful to see the [US] government do damage to other countries’ democratic institutions as well.” » | Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Thursday, July 31, 2025

Donald Trump Placed Major Tariffs on Brazil. Now He's Sanctioning a Judge. But … Why?

July 31, 2025

Trump Escalates Fight With Brazil, Taking Aim at Its Economy and Politics

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The White House hit Brazil on Wednesday with a 50 percent tariff and sanctions on a justice overseeing investigations into former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The United States on Wednesday made good on its threats to apply 50 percent tariffs on Brazil two days ahead of schedule and slapped sanctions on the Supreme Court justice overseeing the criminal case against former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The dual measures showed that, just as Brazilian officials sought dialogue, the White House sharply escalated the growing diplomatic crisis between the Western Hemisphere’s two most populous nations.

The tariffs against Brazil are the highest of any levy President Trump has imposed this year, though they exclude many of Brazil’s key exports to the United States, like commercial aircrafts, energy products and orange juice.

The actions against Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, are a highly unusual use of some of the gravest human rights sanctions the U.S. government has at its disposal. » | Ana Ionova and Jack Nicas | Ana Ionova reported from Brasília, and Jack Nicas from Rio de Janeiro. | Wednesdaay, July 30, 2025

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Brazil’s President to Trump: ‘I Want to Be Treated With Respect’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Faced with threats of 50 percent tariffs and demands to end a criminal case, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he wouldn’t take orders from President Trump.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil is outraged.

President Trump is trying to push around his nation of 200 million, dangling 50 percent tariffs as a threat, Mr. Lula said in an interview. And yet, he added, the U.S. president is ignoring his government’s offers to talk.

“Be sure that we are treating this with the utmost seriousness. But seriousness does not require subservience,” the Brazilian president said. “I treat everyone with great respect. But I want to be treated with respect.”

Mr. Lula granted his first interview to The New York Times in 13 years on Tuesday, in part because he wanted to speak to the American people about his frustration with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump has said that, starting on Friday, he plans to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, in large part because Brazilian authorities have charged former President Jair Bolsonaro with trying to hold on to power after losing the 2022 election.

Mr. Trump has called the case a “witch hunt” and wants it dropped. Mr. Lula said that was not up for negotiation. “Maybe he doesn’t know that here in Brazil, the judiciary is independent,” he said.

In the interview, Mr. Lula said that the American president is infringing on Brazil’s sovereignty. » | Jack Nicas | Photographs by Victor Moriyama | Jack Nicas interviewed President Lula of Brazil in the nation’s capital, Brasília.| Wednesday, July 30, 2025

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Brazil Court Freezes Bolsonaro Son’s Assets as Ex-President Threatened with Arrest over Social Media Use

THE GUARDIAN: Eduardo Bolsonaro condemns Alexandre de Moraes’s order, while judge directs Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyers to explain why he breached social media restrictions

A Brazilian supreme court justice has ordered the freezing of the accounts and assets of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s third son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, the latter said on social media.

Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman who has been in Washington to drum up support for his father, said on X on Monday the decision was “another arbitrary” decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

CNN Brasil reported that Moraes’s confidential decision was issued on Saturday as part of an investigation into Eduardo Bolsonaro’s conduct in the US. » | Reuters | Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Could Trump's Threats against Brazil Backfire? | Inside Story

Jul 19, 2025 | Deepening conflict between the US and Brazil -- over the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro. US President Trump threatens 50 percent tariffs -- unacceptable blackmail, says Brazil's President Lula da Silva. So what's next? And who stands to win or lose?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Graziella Testa -- Professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation who specialises in public policy
Vinicius Rodrigues Vieira -- Professor at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation
Michael Shifter -- Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy forum focused on Western Hemisphere affairs

Bolsonaro Ordered to Wear Ankle Monitor, Escalating Brazil’s Feud With Trump

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Jair Bolsonaro, the former president, to stay home most hours, defying President Trump’s demands that charges against Mr. Bolsonaro be dropped.

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor, stay home during most hours and stay away from foreign embassies, a sign that the court believed he is liable to flee the country before his trial on charges that he attempted a coup after losing the 2022 election.

Brazilian federal police searched Mr. Bolsonaro’s residence and home on Friday morning, carrying out orders from the Supreme Court, according to two people familiar with the searches who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the operation. Brazilian media showed Mr. Bolsonaro arriving to a government facility on Friday morning to have an ankle monitor fitted on him.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Paulo Cunha Bueno, confirmed that the court ordered Mr. Bolsonaro to use an ankle monitor and barred him from using social media or communicating with his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been in Washington lobbying the Trump administration to intervene in his father’s case.

“Former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team was surprised and outraged by the imposition of severe precautionary measures against him, despite having complied with all court orders to date,” his lawyers said in a statement. » | Jack Nicas and Ana Ionova | Reporting from Rio de Janeiro | Friday, July 18, 2025

Trump's Letter about Tariffs Was an Unacceptable Blackmail : Brazil's Lula

Jul 18, 2025 | Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that he would not take orders from a "gringo," responding to US President Donald Trump's letter slapping Brazil with 50% tariffs. In a letter last week, Trump attributed the tariffs, set to start in August, to Brazil's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro and to alleged unfair trade practices by Brazil against US companies.

New Netflix Documentary Examines Political Influence of Brazilian Evangelicals

July 11, 2025 | A new Netflix documentary, "Apocalypse in the Tropics," examines the role of the evangelical movement and right-wing politics in Brazil and its parallels with U.S. politics. Director Petra Costa joins "The Takeout" to discuss her film.

Brazil Draws Up Plans to Retaliate against Trump’s 50% Tariff Threat

THE GUARDIAN: Brazilian president convened country’s ministers to discuss how his government should address US duties

Brazil is drawing up plans to hit back against 50% US tariffs on the country’s exports, setting the stage for further escalation in Donald Trump’s trade war with Latin America’s largest economy.

The US president vowed to impose steep duties on Brazilian goods on Wednesday, accusing the country of conducting a “witch-hunt” against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing a trial over his attempt to overturn his 2022 election defeat.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s current president, swiftly indicated that it would retaliate. “Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage,” he said in a statement. » | Callum Jones in New York | Thursday, July 10, 2025

Related material here and here.

Donald Trump Threatens Brazil with 50% Tariff | BBC News

July 10, 2025 | US President Donald Trump said he was planning to impose a 50% tax on goods made in Brazil, escalating his fight with the South American country.

He announced the plan in his latest tariff letter, which was shared on social media.

In it, Trump accuses Brazil of "attacks" on US tech companies and of conducting a "witch hunt" against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the 2022 election.

Responding in a social media post, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said an increase in tariffs on Brazil would be reciprocated, and he warned against any interference in the nation's judicial system.


Related article here.