It represents a risk to Brazilian sovereignty and could hinder the entry of foreign investments into the country. The assessment is by former minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and of Justice and Public Security Ricardo Lewandowski.
“This could represent an attack on our sovereignty, it weakens sovereignty. And secondly, I am here in the presence of businesspeople from various areas, this could hinder foreign investments”, said Lewandowski this Monday (1st) during a panel at the Lisbon Forum 2026, an event organized by IDP, an educational institution owned by Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the STF.
According to the former minister, the American classification tends to generate a chain of practical restrictions for companies operating in Brazil, both foreign and national. “As a country is classified as a country that hosts terrorist organizations, there are a series of restrictions. Companies need to create compliance and administrative accounting mechanisms to be able to defend themselves against this phenomenon”, he stated.
The panel also brought together former president Michel Temer, the governor of Pará Helder Barbalho, the former minister of Cities Jader Barbalho Filho, former senator Kátia Abreu and the president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab, under the theme “Federative Pact, Democratic Governance and Fiscal Sustainability”. The moderation was by the president of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), Vital do Rêgo Filho.
Semi-presidentialism as a way out
In the same panel, Lewandowski defended a reform in the Brazilian government model and said he was convinced that the country needed to move towards semi-presidentialism. The former minister argued that the complexity of contemporary State management made it unfeasible for a single person to accumulate the functions of head of government and head of State.
“With my time in the executive branch following President Lula, the complexity of contemporary state management is such that it is no longer possible for someone to simultaneously exercise the functions of head of government and head of state,” he said.
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Lewandowski also cited what he classified as institutional paralysis resulting from the conflict between the Powers. “What one power decides is annulled by another power, be it the Judiciary, the Executive, or the Legislature. So there is institutional paralysis, it is necessary to create new functionalities”, he stated. The former minister said he had previously been an admirer of presidentialism, but that his experience in the Executive convinced him of the need for change.
