Republican deputy Chris Smith, co-president of the United States Human Rights Commission, sent a telegram to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, charging agility in the application of financial sanctions from Donald Trump’s government against Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
The document, signed by the congressman on Wednesday (25), mentions the testimony of journalist Paulo Figueiredo at the commission last Tuesday (24)when Figueiredo denounced as a serious case the “transnational repression” promoted by the Brazilian minister, whom he accused of political persecution.
In the document, the American deputy says that the Brazilian investigative journalist “gave a convincing and alarming testimony to Congress that the Government of Brazil continues to pursue Brazilians within the United States.”
In the letter sent to Rubio, Smith calls for a “quick response” of the US government and cites the possibility of sanctioning measure to reach other Brazilian authorities that commit such abuse.
The congressman lists other evidence that Brazil is experiencing a crisis of freedom. “On May 7, I chaired a hearing from the House External Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights entitled ‘Brazil: a crisis of democracy, freedom and rule of law’ where similar abuses were described by a panel of witnesses.”
He also mentioned a letter sent directly to Moraes on the 21st, in which he requested information on human rights violations by Brazilian authorities, but says he did not receive a return from the Brazilian minister.
Smith also cites a series of mechanisms used by Brazilian authorities to politically pursue people in the United States. Among them, it lists the use of Interpol to locate dissidents abroad; the use of informal channels to circumvent US authorities in law enforcement; the coercion of American companies to restrict the freedom of expression constitutionally guaranteed.
The deputy praised Rubio’s statement before the House External Affairs Committee on May 21 that the Trump government is evaluating the application of Magnitsky law Against the Brazilian minister, but asked management to quickly act in this regard and identify other authorities from Brazil that may be involved in the so -called “transnational repression” against Brazilians in the United States.
On the 28th, the US Secretary of State announced a new Trump government policy to punish authorities and foreigners who apply censorship against US citizens.
The document sent by Smith to Secretary Marco Rubio was released by licensed deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since March.
The American congressman and deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro were called to give more details about the request, but there was no return until the time of publication.
