In Brasilia, today, the Brazilian Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of attempting to assassinate Lula and orchestrate a coup in 2023. Due to health issues, the 70-year-old Bolsonaro is likely to request house arrest.
The conviction is the first time that a former Brazilian President has been sentenced to jail for attempting to undermine democracy in Brazil. It stands in marked contrast to the United States, where the Biden Administration dithered in prosecuting Trump for trying to orchestrate a coup.
“It’s impossible to trivialize this return to dark moments in history that we’ve already lived through,” said Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes in a statement. “And the evidence is abundant.”
The conviction is likely to incur the wrath of the Trump Administration. Already, Trump has placed 50% tariffs on many products from Brazil. These punitive measures are expected to increase.
However, 1.6% of all Brazilian products are exported to the United States, and many products were exempted due to corporate pressure. The tariffs are unlikely to affect the Brazilian economy. Indeed, polling shows that the tariffs have given a boost to President Lula ahead of next year's 2026 election.
In Brazil, people took to the streets yesterday to celebrate the conviction of Bolsonaro. Yuca Nani, who was celebrating the initial guilty verdict at a party in Brasilia, told the Guardian that yesterday's guilty verdict gave new meaning to 9/11 in Brazil.
“It was the day that changed the history of the modern world,” Nani told the Guardian. “Now in Brazil [the date] has a new meaning, which is Bolsonaro’s conviction.”
