Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva landed in New York Sunday with simply six ministers and two governors, marking the smallest UN delegation in many years.
The skeletal entourage displays Brazil receiving unprecedented rogue-state-style measures from the United States following the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
For the primary time, no Brazilian congressmen joined the president, fearing they might turn into sanctions targets—a chilling impact normally reserved for adversaries like Iran or Venezuela.
Health Minister Alexandre Padilha obtained a US visa limiting his motion to a five-block radius round his resort and UN headquarters. These limits have been harsher than these imposed on Cuban, Russian, or Syrian diplomats.
The restrictions prolonged to his spouse and 10-year-old daughter—punitive measures attribute of hostile regimes. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad additionally stayed dwelling, citing home priorities however acknowledging the poisonous diplomatic local weather.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sanctioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes beneath the Magnitsky Act, instruments usually used in opposition to human rights abusers and warfare criminals.
The sanctions freeze any US-based belongings and ban Moraes from getting into America. Brazilian banks obtained warnings to not adjust to US sanctions on Brazilian soil, prompting Moraes to declare “US legal guidelines don’t apply in Brazilian territory,” echoing defiance typical of sanctioned regimes.
Brazil Faces Rogue-State Treatment at U.N. with Smallest Delegation—What’s Next?
The disaster started when Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years on September 11 for conspiring to stage a coup.
Earlier, President Trump had slapped 50% tariffs on key Brazilian imports as a warning, granting exemptions just for plane, power merchandise, pulp, and fertilizers.
Now Washington indicators more durable motion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced subsequent week’s package deal of latest sanctions to curb what he referred to as “judicial overreach” by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court.
Rubio warned that activist judges threaten US sovereignty and digital free speech by pursuing Bolsonaro and focusing on Americans on-line.
His promised measures will lengthen past visa restrictions and commerce duties to carry Brazilian officers accountable and safeguard American pursuits.
Unlike basic rogue states, the US maintains full diplomatic relations and most financial ties with Brazil.
As Lula prepares his UN tackle, the world watches how Brazil navigates this unprecedented stress whereas upholding its democratic establishments.
