The trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and seven other defendants of the “crucial core” of the coup attempt, which starts on Tuesday, 2, is featured in the newspaper The Washington Post (WP)one of the main in the United States.
According to The Postthe trial of the former president, close allies and high-ranking military marks an inflection in the political history of Brazil. This is the first time an attempt to break the institutional order will go to trial. In addition to political tradition, there is a confrontation against US President Donald Trump, who tried to coerce the trial with sanctions against the country and the rapporteur of the case, Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court (STF).
“For decades, I have studied more than a dozen blows and attempts to blow, and they all resulted in impunity or amnesty,” he told the The Post Historian Carlos Fico, one of the main researchers about the military issue of the country. “This time it will be different.”
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In the same line, historian Lilia Schwarcz told the newspaper that the trial against Bolsonaro and allies is “symbolic” for breaking a “pact of silence” over the military. Even after the redemocratization, the crimes of the military dictatorship were never tried, due to an amnesty law proposed and approved by the regime itself in 1979.
O The Washington Post It also pointed out that the trial will take place after a “growing break” between Brazil and the United States promoted by President Donald Trump. The US government has made an onslaught against Brazil since May, when the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said the Trump government evaluated sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes. The tensions intensified from July, when the US president spoke out against what he called “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro, announced additional tariffs to Brazilian products and revoked visas from authorities. In addition, Moraes was sanctioned on the basis of magnitsky law.
As showed the Estadãothe acts of the US government against Moraes were preceded by a campaign of pockets against the magistrate abroad. Although it intensified with the performance of federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) in the first half of this year, the campaign had been underway since 2024, when Moraes entered the clash with Elon Musk.
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Despite the US government’s onslaught, the criminal action followed its course. “Instead of retreating, Brazil increased the pressure on the former president and his allies,” said the The Post. “The Federal Police of Brazil indicated (Jair) Bolsonaro and his son, Eduardo, citing the repeated meetings of the federal deputy with employees of the White House, where he encouraged punitive measures against Brazil.”
The 50% tariff imposed by the US on Brazilian products impacted the criminal action in which Bolsonaro is a defendant. Moraes considered that the tariffs showed an attempt to coerc the process course and imposed precautionary measures on Bolsonaro. Following the repeated non-compliance with the restriction on social networking, the former president was arrested on August 4.
“There is no possibility of retreating even a millimeter,” said Alexandre de Moraes in an interview with The Washington Post published on August 18. “We will do what is right: we will receive the accusation, we will analyze the evidence and who must be condemned will be condemned, and whoever must be acquitted will be acquitted.”
