The United States will restrict travel visas for Brazilian judicial officials and their immediate families over what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a “political witch-hunt” targeting former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
In an announcement on Friday, Rubio accused Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of orchestrating a “persecution and censorship complex” that, according to Rubio, “violates basic rights of Brazilians and even extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members, effective immediately,” Rubio said, though he did not specify the exact number of individuals impacted by the measures.
According to a report from O Globo, the U.S. has revoked visas for seven additional justices of Brazil’s Supreme Court. If confirmed, the only justices not affected would be Bolsonaro-appointed judges Andre Mendonca, Nunes Marques, and Luiz Fux.
The U.S. move comes in response to Brazil’s Supreme Court actions against Bolsonaro. On Friday, the court issued search warrants and restraining orders against the former president, prohibiting him from contacting foreign officials amid allegations that he sought the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump in ongoing legal cases.
Justice Moraes accused Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2023, of undermining Brazil’s sovereignty by appealing to a foreign leader to interfere in the country’s judicial processes.
