US State Department Defends Actions on Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, PCC, and Comando Vermelho
By Hotspotnews
In a letter dated October 15, 2026, the U.S. Department of State responded to questions from 31 American lawmakers about U.S. policy toward Brazil. The document reaffirms American support for Brazilians’ right to choose their leaders through free and fair elections while defending earlier measures targeting Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes and two major criminal organizations.
On Moraes, the State Department stood by the July 2025 application of Global Magnitsky sanctions. Officials cited documented evidence of serious human rights violations, including the authorization of arbitrary preventive detentions and actions that restricted freedom of expression. The letter specifically referenced orders directed at digital platforms—including U.S. social media companies—that required the removal or blocking of accounts posting protected speech. These steps were described as a targeted, politically motivated effort to silence critics. Moraes was later removed from the Magnitsky sanctions list in December 2025; the October 2026 letter does not revisit the reasons for that delisting but maintains that the original decision rested on applicable legal criteria and available evidence.
The same letter also defends the May 2026 designation of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. officials characterized both groups as highly violent entities with thousands of members that have attacked Brazilian security forces, officials, and civilians, while operating criminal networks that extend into the United States. The designation was presented as reflecting the groups’ demonstrated threat to regional stability and American interests.
Looking forward, the State Department stated that the United States intends to keep engaging the Brazilian public, the private sector, and the elected government on security cooperation, reciprocal trade, investment, and shared prosperity. It stopped short of an explicit commitment to recognize any particular electoral outcome.
Importantly, the letter does not announce or signal any new sanctions, designations, visa actions, or other measures. It is a retrospective justification of steps already taken—the July 2025 Magnitsky sanctions (later lifted) and the May 2026 terrorist designations—rather than a preview of forthcoming action. No fresh penalties or designations are described as imminent.
The letter arrives against a backdrop of long-running friction between U.S. policy and certain Brazilian judicial practices involving speech regulation, platform orders, and the treatment of political opposition.
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Sources for the underlying facts include contemporaneous reporting by G1, Estadão, and the Terra Brasil Notícias item that circulated the letter, as well as earlier U.S. Treasury and State Department statements on the 2025 Magnitsky action.
