This Is How It Is Done

Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be. 

This bon mot is attributed to Charles de Gaulle and was meant to be an ironic comment pointing to Brazil’s enormous potential to be a dynamic, prosperous country, and its inability to do so due to a corrupt political culture that undermines its potential. 

It’s no surprise that the BRICs are challenging the United States to be the dominant currency trading market. Brazil. Russia. India. China. All countries have deeply troubled political cultures, which unite them. 

You can see the corruption of Brazil in recent years by the abuse of its court system to persecute political opponents, and there is no worse malefactor than Judge Alexandre de Moraes. He is a one-man wrecking ball when it comes to abusing the power of the courts to attack political figures he dislikes–including in America–and Marco Rubio just announced that the United States was placing sanctions on him in particular. 

🚨NEW: Infamous Brazilian “Judge Voldemort” Alexandre de Moraes, who gained notoriety after deliberately targeting Elon Musk and X in Brazil has officially been sanctioned by the US and has had all his assets frozen and barred from doing business. FAFO. pic.twitter.com/u1j2X3C2cJ

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) July 30, 2025

This is how it is done. 

He is most famous for abusing his power to prevent former President Jair Bolsonaro from running for president, but in America, he should be more famous for his attempts–sometimes successful–to censor Elon Musk and X. 

BREAKING:

Marco Rubio announces that USA is sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program for serious human rights abuses:

“Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the fundamental rights of their… pic.twitter.com/dF0AiUYWHW

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2025

You may recall that at one point, Musk shut down operations in Brazil because he feared that the Justice would wrongfully imprison X employees. Moraes has used secret rulings to impose his will at whim, and he is a very dangerous opponent to have if you do business in Brazil. 

BREAKING: The US sanctions Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over “serious human rights abuses.”

Marco Rubio states, “United States will use all appropriate and effective diplomatic, political, and legal instruments to protect the speech of Americans from… pic.twitter.com/8gk7lyRadg

— Intel Tower🗽 (@inteltower) July 30, 2025

The Associated Press, of course, ignored the press release by Rubio that pointed out Moraes’ attacks on free speech, and put all the context on the Trump administration’s sympathy with Bolsonaro. No doubt the Bolsonaro case matters in this context, but Rubio specifically focused on threats to Americans’ free speech in his release. The AP completely ignored that, probably because they have been proponents of suppressing speech they dislike. 

1. THE POWER GRAB

Moraes started under Bolsonaro by launching broad “anti-democracy” probes.

No jury. No Congress. Just secret investigations, mass censorship, and arrests.

He gave himself total power to criminalize opposition and silence dissent. pic.twitter.com/wsO1aYRCSC

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 30, 2025

3. THE ELON FACTOR

Moraes tried to force 𝕏 to ban posts, block users, and hand over private data.@elonmusk refused, and called him a “tyrant judge” violating human rights and suppressing free speech.

Moraes responded by threatening Elon with criminal charges. pic.twitter.com/ACqA5T0N5t

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 30, 2025

5. THE SANCTIONS

On July 30, Trump invoked the Global Magnitsky Act.

The U.S. sanctioned Moraes, the first time a sitting foreign Supreme Court president has ever been targeted.

Visas revoked. Assets frozen. pic.twitter.com/WoIqn9qoTJ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 30, 2025

CNBC at least noted that the sanctions were not solely related to Trump’s friendship with Bolsonaro, and were fair in noting that the Bolsonaro case is a real, but only partial explanation for the sanctions. 

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been a target of criticism by President Donald Trump for his handling of legal cases involving former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Shortly after those sanctions were announced, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil, with a statement from the White House referencing de Moraes.

“President Trump is defending American companies from extortion, protecting American persons from political persecution, safeguarding American free speech from censorship, and saving the American economy from being subject to the arbitrary edicts of a tyrannical foreign judge,” the statement said.

https://t.co/8Vi7rz0pK6

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) July 30, 2025

Rubio specifically mentioned the silencing and bullying of US social media companies–something that also applies to EU officials, who should take heed. 

This is how it is done. 

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