Bolsonaro’s Son Asks Trump and Rubio To Apply the Magnitsky Act to Brazilian Prosecutors, Politicians
July 16-- BNews reported July 14 that Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who’s been holed up “in exile” in Washington since March, published a video in English, “humbly requesting” that Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “punish” Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and “other politicians” by applying the Global Magnitsky Act. De Moraes is prosecuting Jair Bolsonaro for his involvement in the Jan. 8, 2023 coup attempt against President Lula da Silva.
The desperate Eduardo, who appears unhinged in the video, claimed that his father’s enemies are not just ordinary politicians, but “corrupt, dishonest criminals,” and that the sanctions included in the Magnitsky Act are needed to “save our democracy.” These include economic sanctions, usually applied to individuals accused of corruption or human rights violations. Historically, the U.S. has used the Magnitsky Act to target individuals considered to be political “undesirables,” mostly in Russia and the former East Bloc. Eduardo claims he’s being persecuted by politicians “led by” the Workers’ Party (PT) founded by Lula da Silva, and that they want him thrown in jail just because he’s asking the Trump administration to “help” in resolving his father’s legal and electoral situation. Brazil, he said, is not a democracy, and Lula and Alexandre de Moraes “consider the U.S. to be a criminal organization.”
The younger Bolsonaro, who is a federal deputy in the Brazilian Congress, but now “on leave,” also charges that the Lula government is tied to the “Islamic Jihad,” since Vice President Geraldo Alkman attended the inauguration of Iranian President Pezeshkian, and was seen in the company of the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah “and others.” In a separate social media message, Eduardo complained that de Moraes is threatening to issue an arrest warrant against him. “Moraes only knows how to double down. But he has never faced an opponent like Donald J. Trump [@realDonaldTrump]. Let’s see what happens.”