NEW: Rubio Takes Bold Action Against Brazil Over Increasing Authoritarianism

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that the United States would implementing visa restrictions on a powerful Brazilian Supreme Court judge after the nation’s high court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his allies on the Supreme Court and his immediate families members will have their visas revoked, Rubio announced. This is due to what he described as a “political witch hunt” against Bolsonaro and his supporters that has essentially amounted to a much more aggressive version of the January 6 Capitol protests crackdown, resulting in decades-long prison sentences for peaceful protesting.

“President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Rubio said in a statement.

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” he continued.

As part of the high court’s orders, Bolsonaro is prohibited from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies over allegations that he sought support from President Donald Trump. Moraes — who has aggressively expanded the power of the Supreme Court since 2021 — claimed there was a “high possibility” that Bolsonaro would flee the country.

Federal agents earlier this week raided Bolsonaro’s properties and placed on ankle monitor on him despite the fact that he is polling ahead of current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an anti-American figure who has pulled Brazil towards Russia and China.

President Trump has already warned the Lula government that he will be implementing 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian exports starting August 1 if they do not cease the politically motivated prosecutions of Bolsonaro and his supporters.

Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.

After Bolsonaro was narrowly defeated in the 2022 presidential election, he held a number of rallies in which he argued that the election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud. He opted not to use the military to challenge the results, defying calls from some hardliners.

About a week after Lula took office, supporters of Bolsonaro trashed the nation’s Supreme Court Building in a protest similar to the January 6 Capitol protests. A number of protesters have been sentenced to decades in prison for what amount to petty vandalism and trespassing charges, while hundreds more are expected to stand trial.

In one instance, Débora Rodrigues dos Santos, a mother of two who had no prior offenses, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for writing “you lost, loser” on a statute outside the Supreme Court building. The Lula government has also arrested dozens of additional lawmakers, pundits and opposition figures while others have been forced to flee the country.

Alexandre de Moraes has emerged as a key ally of Lula’s and has orchestrated a campaign of censorship of intimidation against his political opponents. Moraes has also expanded his censorship efforts to the United States by banning platforms such as X and Rumble in the South American nation, something that was directly referenced in Rubio’s announcement.