The diplomatic freeze between Washington and Brasília has abruptly thawed. On Friday, the US Treasury Department removed sanctions against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the jurist responsible for the historic conviction of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The move effectively dismantles the punitive measures imposed by the Trump administration just five months ago.

This reversal represents a sharp pivot in US foreign policy. It suggests that economic pragmatism—specifically the renegotiation of crippling 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports—has outweighed ideological solidarity with the Bolsonaro family. For the Global South, it sends a potent message: in the current geopolitical climate, even the harshest US sanctions are negotiable.

Diplomacy Over Ideology

Justice Moraes and his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, had been targeted under the Global Magnitsky Act, a tool typically reserved for warlords and dictators accused of serious human rights abuses. The sanctions, imposed in July, froze their US assets and barred them from the American financial system. The designation was a direct retaliation for what President Donald Trump had termed a “witch-hunt” against his ally, Jair Bolsonaro.

However, the geopolitical calculus has shifted. Following intense negotiations between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the White House, the sanctions were lifted in tandem with a rollback of tariffs. Analysts note that the initial 50% levy on Brazilian goods—including coffee and steel—threatened to disrupt global supply chains, a scenario that likely forced Washington back to the table.

• July 2025: US imposes Global Magnitsky sanctions on Justice Moraes.
• September 2025: Sanctions extended to Moraes’ wife; Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years.
• November 2025: Trump begins rolling back tariffs after talks with Lula.
• December 12, 2025: All sanctions on the Moraes family are lifted.

The Lobbying Machine Fails

The decision deals a severe blow to the Bolsonaro family’s international influence. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president’s son and a congressman, had relocated to Washington specifically to lobby for these punitive measures. He had characterized the Brazilian judiciary’s actions as “persecution,” hoping to leverage his father’s relationship with Trump into sustained pressure on the Lula administration.

Writing on social media, Eduardo Bolsonaro admitted he received the news “with regret,” a rare concession of defeat. Gleisi Hoffmann, Brazil’s Minister for Institutional Relations, was more blunt, describing the move as a “big defeat for the family of Jair Bolsonaro, traitors who have conspired against Brazil.”

A Historic Conviction

The backdrop to this diplomatic tussle is the unprecedented legal drama in Brazil. In September, Justice Moraes presided over the trial that sentenced Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for attempting to overturn the 2022 election results. The conviction, which found Bolsonaro guilty of plotting a coup, remains a flashpoint in Brazilian politics.

For Kenyan observers, the unfolding events offer a critical lesson in sovereignty and economic leverage. Brazil, a fellow agricultural giant and competitor in the global coffee market, successfully used its economic weight to push back against American judicial interference. As trade barriers fall, the flow of Brazilian commodities to the US is expected to normalize, a development that East African exporters will be watching closely.