US Sanctions Judge for Conviction, Lifts Them for Convenient Alliance
The Guardian (among others) reports the US Treasury lifted Global Magnitsky sanctions on Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his wife, just months after imposing them for his conviction of former President Jair Bolsonaro. De Moraes was sanctioned for 'human rights abuses' related to Bolsonaro's removal. Now, with Bolsonaro out of the picture—a figure the US wasn't exactly sad to see go—the
'abuses' conveniently vanish. It's almost as if the sanctions weren't about human rights at all, but about whose political agenda was being served at the moment. This isn't about promoting justice; it's about geopolitical chess. The US didn't suddenly discover de Moraes had a change of heart or miraculously became a human rights champion. The timing (post-Bolsonaro's ouster) suggests a
transactional relationship: sanction when inconvenient, un-sanction when strategically beneficial. One might wonder if the 'human rights' narrative from Washington is less a consistent beacon and more a flexible spotlight, illuminating only those who inconvenience US interests.