The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) thanked the president (PT) for his efforts to end the sanctions imposed against him by the government.
This Friday (12), after five and a half months, the magistrate of the list of individuals sanctioned based on the Magnitsky Law, aimed at those accused of serious human rights violations
“I couldn’t help but make a brief comment thanking you for your commitment on my behalf and on behalf of my wife, thanking President Lula for his commitment,” said Moraes, in a speech during the inauguration ceremony of the SBT News channel, in São Paulo.
In his speech, he highlighted the need to combat fake news, calling it a “sore that corrodes democracy”, and said that “the truth won today”, when discussing the end of sanctions.
“I asked the president not to take any action, not to take any action against this, because I believed, as I continued to believe — and today this became very clear —, that the truth, the moment it reached the American authorities, would prevail,” he said.
“The truth and commitment of President Lula and his entire team prevailed.” He also stated that it was “a victory for the Brazilian Judiciary”.
“The Brazilian judiciary, which did not bend to threats and coercion, will not bend and continued with impartiality, seriousness and courage. The victory of national sovereignty. President Lula, from the first moment, said that the country would not admit any invasion of Brazilian sovereignty”, he stated.
The minister also said that the year ends with Brazil “setting an example of democracy and institutional strength to all countries in the world.”
When speaking, Lula responded to Moraes’ thanks with a joke about the minister’s age.
“Silvio Santos would be 95 years old and Alexandre de Moraes will be 35 tomorrow,” he said. In fact, Moraes turns 57 this Saturday (13).
“I gave him as a gift the recognition that it was not fair for a president of another country to punish a minister of the Brazilian Supreme Court because he was complying with the Brazilian Constitution,” he stated.
Lula said that, in the telephone conversation he had last week with Trump, the American asked him if lifting the restrictions would be good for the Brazilian.
“He [Trump] asked, ‘Is it good for you?’ I said: ‘It’s not good for me, it’s good for Brazil and it’s good for Brazilian democracy'”, said Lula, who added that he told Trump that the conversation was not just between them, but between presidents of two countries.
“I was very happy, less than you [Alexandre]but I was very happy”, concluded Lula, highlighting that there are still other people sanctioned by the United States waiting for the restrictions to be lifted. “Therefore, Alexandre’s current victory is the victory of Brazilian democracy.”
When Moraes was sanctioned, Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that there were “serious human rights abuses” by the STF minister, in reference to the trial of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The act against the minister occurred after federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) acted with the North American government.
The removal of Moraes and his wife, Viviane Barci, from the sanctioned list occurred after the Trump administration approached the Lula government. The PT member spoke with the Republican about the topic on December 2nd.
The Magnitsky Law deals with serious human rights violations, including cases involving dictators, and the decision to use it against a Brazilian official was unprecedented. The US applied the same sanction to members of Venezuela’s highest courts.
