Overview
- The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Alexandre de Moraes, his wife Viviane Barci de Moraes and the Lex Institute from the Global Magnitsky sanctions list on Friday.
- U.S. officials did not explain the reversal, which came after months of bilateral engagement that included tariff discussions between Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump.
- The Trump administration had sanctioned de Moraes in July, alleging arbitrary detentions and suppression of expression; de Moraes called the use of the Magnitsky law against him illegal and regrettable.
- Washington paired the July designations with steep tariffs on Brazilian imports, then last month exempted key exports and removed some additional duties, particularly in agribusiness.
- Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence, Eduardo Bolsonaro lamented the delisting after lobbying for punitive measures, and Brazil’s lower house passed a bill that could shorten the former president’s time in a closed regime.