Chritopher Landau accused Justice De Moraes of destroying the historic relationship of closeness between Brazil and the U.S.

On Sunday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it considers a post made by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau the previous day “a new frontal attack on Brazilian sovereignty.”

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The Brazilian government expressed “its absolute rejection of the repeated interference of the U.S. government in Brazil’s internal affairs” during a meeting convened Friday by the Foreign Ministry with charge d’affaires Gabriel Escobar, who is heading the U.S. diplomatic mission in the absence of an ambassador.

It also said it would continue to voice its opposition “whenever it is attacked with falsehoods such as those in Landau’s post.” The Foreign Affairs Ministry added that Brazil’s democracy, which “recently defeated an attempted coup d’etat,” “will not bow to pressure, wherever it comes from.”

On Saturday, Landau accused Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of destroying “the historic relationship of closeness” between Brazil and the United States in a message posted on his X account.

“The separation of powers among different branches of government is the greatest guarantor of liberty ever devised by the human mind. No single branch, or person, can amass too much power if checked by the others. But a formal separation of powers means nothing if one branch has the means to intimidate the others into surrendering their constitutional prerogatives,” Landau said.

The text reads, “Brazil is sovereign. We will not accept interference from Uncle Sam. On Sunday, August 10, Jason Miller, advisor to US President Donald Trump, declared that he will not stop or give up until prisoner Jair Bolsonaro is free.”

“What is happening now in Brazil underscores this point: a single Justice of the Supreme Court has usurped dictatorial power by threatening leaders of the other branches, or their families, with arrest, imprisonment, or other penalties. This person has destroyed Brazil’s historically close relationship with the U.S. by, among other things, attempting to apply Brazilian law extraterritorially to silence individuals and companies on U.S. soil.,” he added, without explicitly naming De Moraes.

Currently, De Moraes is overseeing the trial for coup plotting against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Arguing that the trial is a “witch hunt,” President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Brazil, including an additional 50% tariff on Brazilian imports.

Washington also placed Justice De Moraes under the Magnitsky Act, which allows sanctions against foreign officials accused of human rights violations.

Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022, is accused of having planned, alongside military chiefs and former ministers, several schemes to prevent Lula da Silva from taking office after the progressive leader’s victory in the 2022 elections. Last Monday, the far-right leader was placed under house arrest by order of the Supreme Court for violating precautionary measures.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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