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Brazil’s supreme court has ordered the house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro, tightening restrictions on the hard-right populist in open defiance of Donald Trump as the US leader’s ally stands trial on charges of a coup plot.
The country’s top tribunal issued the ruling on Monday evening on the grounds that Bolsonaro, who was already subject to a curfew, had breached a social media ban imposed by the court last month.
It comes after Trump last week imposed steep trade tariffs on Latin America’s largest economy, following demands by the US president for the criminal proceedings against Bolsonaro to end.
The anti-establishment politician addressed supporters at a rally in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday over the phone of his lawmaker son, Flávio, with the conversation posted on Instagram, Brazil’s supreme court said.
The latest move against Bolsonaro, often called the “Trump of the Tropics”, will probably increase tensions amid a crisis in relations between the two most populous democracies in the Americas.
The former army captain, 70, faces spending the rest of his life in prison if found guilty of plotting with allies, including military personnel, to illegally remain in power after failing to get re-elected in 2022. Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.
Brazilian prosecutors allege the conspiracy involved plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Trump has called the trial a “political witch-hunt” and invoked it among justifications for putting a 50 per cent import duty on Brazilian goods, one of the highest in his latest round of protectionist trade measures, and which are due to come into effect on August 6. He also cited Brazilian supreme court orders demanding US social media companies take down posts.
Unlike many of the other countries the Trump White House has targeted with tariffs, the US has a trade surplus with Brazil. Leftwing leader Lula has taken a firm stance against his counterpart, labelling attempts to meddle in his nation’s judiciary as “unacceptable”.
Monday’s ruling by de Moraes, who is overseeing the coup trial, ordered the seizure of all Bolsonaro’s mobile phones and said only lawyers and family members could visit him.
The judge also ordered earlier restrictions against Bolsonaro, including an electronic ankle tag, on the grounds that he courted US interference in the case.
De Moraes is a hate figure for Brazil’s rightwing movement and US authorities imposed financial sanctions on him last week under the Magnitsky Act for alleged human rights abuses.
The US state department accused the judge of using Brazil’s institutions “to silence opposition and threaten democracy” in a X post on Monday evening.
“The United States condemns Moraes’ order imposing house arrest on Bolsonaro and will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.”
“An arrest without a crime, without evidence, without a trial,” posted Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo, a lawmaker currently residing in the US, who has lobbied in Washington for sanctions against de Moraes.
The Trump administration last month revoked the visas of several Brazilian supreme court justices, including de Moraes, as well as their family members.
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