Lula and the Supreme Court are preparing a law against foreign embargoes after sanctions against Moraes.
The government and the Supreme Court are seeking to shield the Brazilian financial system from external impositions such as the Magnitsky Act.
247 - A draft bill is circulating between the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) and the Attorney General's Office (AGU) that would prohibit Brazilian banks and companies from complying with embargoes imposed by foreign countries that violate national sovereignty. This information was published by the newspaper... The GlobeThe move comes in response to sanctions imposed by the United States government against Minister Alexandre de Moraes and his family under the Magnitsky Act.
President Lula and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), have already been consulted and have given their approval to the proposal. It is still unknown whether the initiative will come from the Executive branch or be presented by a member of parliament, but the political crisis surrounding the so-called "Shielding Amendment" has delayed its submission to Congress.
Based on a decision by Flávio Dino
Minister Gilmar Mendes confirmed that he had access to the draft, inspired by a decision made by Flávio Dino in August, which prevented the enforcement of asset freezes in Brazil resulting from unilateral foreign decisions. The ruling occurred in a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram) and served as a benchmark for the new proposal.
The uncertainty surrounding how to react to the American sanctions generated strong instability in the financial market. In a single afternoon, Brazilian banks lost R$ 42 billion in market value due to fears of retaliation if they violated the Magnitsky Act.
The Moraes case and the political dispute
The Lula government and the Supreme Federal Court (STF) believe that the law would make it possible to create exceptions to sanctions or even resort to the United States courts to unfreeze Moraes' assets. However, Bolsonaro's parliamentarians accuse the bill of being a measure tailored to benefit the minister, which could stall its progress in Congress.
Brazil-United States relations
Another factor is the expectation of a meeting between Lula and the President of the United States, Donald Trump. The sanctions were seen as political retaliation for holding Jair Bolsonaro responsible for the attempted coup d'état. To avoid escalating diplomatic tensions, the Brazilian government prefers to postpone the presentation of the project until bilateral negotiations advance on economic issues.
