What They’re Not Telling Us About Brazil: Dispatches From An Insider
What They’re Not Telling Us About Brazil: Dispatches From An Insider
A follower tells of life in the Western democracy turned neo-fascist (plus a comprehensive overview of events in Brazil)
In late 2020, I set up an Instagram page. The reason was quite simple. I had recently stopped working for the Conservatives because of their Covid policies. And I wanted an outlet to expose - occasionally, perhaps bitch - about how those same policies were as daft as they were anti-human.
A few months on, I gained a small following and started receiving messages. One stood out. A parent and teacher from Brazil, whom I'll call "Maria" for reasons that will soon be clear, shared how similar oppressive tactics were taking root in her country despite her president’s Covid-scepticism.
We stayed in touch over the next three years, frequently discussing the parallels between the UK and Brazil, especially the increasing attempts to surveil and restrict legal speech. Our latest conversation focused on the public clashes between Elon Musk and President Lula da Silva, along with his controversial judicial ally, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
During the call, Maria opened up, sharing her personal experiences, fears, and newly adopted behaviours in light of Lula and Moraes’ crackdowns. Her testimony feels especially relevant, given that our own government has recently employed parallel tactics via the British courts and police.
2022 Presidential Election and Aftermath
When former convicted felon Lula da Silva secured a narrow victory over Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election, Brazil descended into unrest. Protests, rallies, and riots erupted as Bolsonaro supporters claimed the election represented an establishment coup.
In 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Court, widely criticised as corrupt, annulled all bribery convictions against Lula. The court did not present any new evidence to support the decision. Instead, citing a biased judge who oversaw the case, they argued that the court had lacked jurisdiction.
The following year, Bolsonaro’s supporters were further enraged when Brazil's federal election oversight body (also alleged to be corrupt) banned Bolsonaro’s campaign from calling Lula “corrupt” or “a thief”. When Lula accused Bolsonaro of cannibalism and “paedophile behaviour” on TV, they didn’t issue equal reprimands.
Claims of election interference initially gained momentum after police raided the homes of 29 comedians, pundits, and YouTubers who supported Bolsonaro ahead of the election. It is understood such raids were made possible due to a spontaneous and broad reinterpretation of a Supreme Court by-law, which permitted the court (Moraes) to start investigations on its own, but only if a crime is alleged to have occurred within its premises. The court thus deemed any online criticism remotely concerning the court and its members ‘within’ its jurisdiction.
Lula narrowly led the first round of voting with 48.43%, edging out Bolsonaro’s 43.20%, but did not secure an outright win. In the second round, Lula won with 50.90% of the vote, marking the closest presidential race in Brazil’s history.
As the representative of Brazil’s socialist wing, Lula advocates for state expansion, asset redistribution, and more invasive government policies. Bolsonaro represents the conservative wing, standing for free expression, a limited state, and free markets.
After the election, widespread protests and riots erupted, eventually culminating in the storming and vandalising of Brazil’s Congress and Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) headquarters on January 8th 2023. This was largely attributed to Bolsonaro supporters despite the president conceding to Lula and plainly ruling out any intervention two weeks earlier.
Some of the mainstream omitted key details. Accusations surfaced of false flag agitators committed acts of violence to tarnish Bolsonaro supporters. Brazil in English released footage showing Gonçalves Dias, head of President Lula’s Institutional Security Office (GSI), interacting with protestors/rioters during January 8th. Other recordings showed an Army captain from the GSI walking among protestors/rioters and serving them water - hardly representative of a bloodthirsty coup. CNN Brazil also aired footage of a man carrying a flag of the far-left Landless Workers Movement - a group whose membership is more sympathetic to Lula than Bolsonaro.
“Dodgy” detainments followed. Reports stated there were over 1,700. Some journalists claimed that peaceful bystanders were arrested alongside those who committed acts of violence/vandalism. Many detainees, including children and the elderly, were allegedly held in a gym—later dubbed "Lula’s concentration camp"—without charges, legal representation, toilets, food, or water for hours, even days. Next, pictures surfaced of confession documents allegedly served to detainees. Authorities wanted them to admit guilt to an attempted coup. Three lawyers condemned the detainments, asking why there had been no custody hearings. The Rio Times later reported that an 81-year-old woman, Hilda, died in said gym after police escorted her from a peaceful encampment near army headquarters, where she was pleading for an investigation into the election.
The Brazilian military's admission that there were 'vulnerabilities' in the voting machines after the election significantly contributed to the unrest. One anonymous expert claimed that official election data revealed serious inconsistencies in second-round vote tabulations across the country. Additionally, Argentine data expert Fernando Cerimedo pointed to changes in pre and post-2020 voting machines, suggesting Lula would have lost if the former were in use. When the Bolsonaro-aligned Liberal Party submitted a formal investigation request citing Cerimedo’s findings, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) reportedly erased the second round election data from their website.
In the months that followed, crackdowns intensified, largely driven by Moraes, who used the full power of the STF and his position as President of TSE to suppress critics.
For context, Moraes had been subject to heavy scrutiny over alleged ties to Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Latin America's largest drug gang. The PCC has a reported membership of 40,000 lifetime members and 60,000 “contractors,” including those with political/police connections achieved through violence. The gang has participated in countless vicious, bloody attacks, including the assassination of a judge. At the centre of these allegations was Moraes’ previous position at a law firm that represented the transport company Transcooper, which had connections to PCC traffickers. Moraes has denied any links and successfully won legal battles over the allegations as no direct links were identified. Curiously, however, the investigation into Transcooper is still ongoing and police haven’t issued any updates for years.
Note most of Moraes’ court orders via STF are not up for appeal. Meaning, there is no legal procedure to challenge them. This allows him to act as de facto dictator if his influence over the other justices is to be believed.
Lula and Moraes’ Responses
In May 2020, as mentioned above, Brazil's Federal Police, under orders from the STF, raided the homes of 29 Bolsonaro supporters as part of a "fake news" investigation. Many of those targeted had no official ties to the government or media. Among them was a comic whose home was raided at 6 a.m. (featured below), and a multimillionaire retailer known for placing large replicas of the Statue of Liberty outside his stores. Police seized their mobile phones, computers, and other devices to “aid” in their investigation. Moraes defended the raids, claiming they do not hurt Brazil’s press freedoms as they are targeted towards “bot” behaviour. Below is a video of the police raid on said comic, Rey Biannchi:
In February 2021, Federal Police arrested Brazilian congressman Daniel Silveira for comments made in a YouTube video. Silveira accused the majority of country’s Supreme Court justices of having “no character, no scruples, no morals.” He added that he could imagine some of them “getting beaten up” (although he never explicitly encouraged violence). In response, Moraes ordered his immediate arrest and instructed YouTube to remove the video, threatening the platform with a $18,619.89 fine. YouTube later removed it, citing a violation of its terms of service. Silveria defied a number of Moraes’ orders, including barricaded himself in Congress, which ultimately led to a contempt of court charge. Eventually, the court sentenced Silveira to 8 years in prison before Bolsonaro pardoned him. The STF later overturned that pardon in May 2023, citing its “political” nature and re-sentenced him to 9 years.
In October 2022, as cited above, TSE ordered widespread censorship of campaign materials linking Lula to corruption. This included references to his prison sentence and corruption charges. Moraes led TSE at the time. His ruling mandated Twitter and Facebook remove content associating Lula with past crimes or face daily fines of $9,658. Meanwhile, TSE did not reprimand Lula’s campaign when they accused Bolsonaro of cannibalism and “pedophile behavior”. CNN reported that Jovem Pan journalists, an independent outlet critical of Lula, faced fines of $4,838 for any content that violated the order. The New York Times reported Moraes via TSE also blocked a YouTuber from posting a documentary on a 2018 assassination attempt against Bolsonaro.
In November 2022, War Room reporter Jane Zirkle revealed that Brazilian Justice Inspector, Minister Luis Felipe Salomao, who was appointed as a minister by then-President Lula back in 2008, signed an order allowing child services to take children away from election protesters. At the instruction of Tutelary Council, child services were recorded trying to remove children from their parents in front of the Army Battalion on Av. Fernandes Lima. Locals obstructed council authorities. The event shortly preceded the debanking of at least 42 individuals and companies associated with Bolsonaro days earlier in state of Mato Grosso, at the request of Moraes. All of the companies and individuals in question were said to have aided Bolsonaro’s “attempted coup”.
In January 2023, Moraes ordered the removal of Ibaneis Rocha as governor of Brasília for 90 days, citing his “wilful omission” in responding to riots that damaged the Brazilian Congress and STF. The move followed a request from Lula’s government, accusing Rocha of failing to prevent the attack. Rocha, a Bolsonaro-backed official, was democratically reelected in October 2022. The STF justified the decision as necessary to address “terrorist acts against democracy”. Rocha never explicitly incited violence. Nor was there any evidence that he directly facilitated protestors and rioters. Authorities and Lula-allies essentially argued that he was negligent in his duties, which they deemed cause enough to rip up a democratic mandate and remove him from his post.
Later that month, Moraes issued an arrest warrant for Anderson Torres, head of public security in Brasília, and a former justice minister under Bolsonaro. Ricardo Cappelli, appointed by Lula post-January 8th to oversee security in Brasília, accused Torres of “sabotage”, claiming he and colleagues deliberately weakened security to enable the attack on government buildings. Cappelli cited Lula’s peaceful inauguration on January 1 as evidence that security measures could prevent violence, suggesting Torres’ apparent “failure” was intentional.
In February 2023, Lula made childhood vaccinations (including novel mRNA Covid vaccines) mandatory for families receiving government benefits. He declared parents must show proof of vaccination for their children to qualify for the Bolsa Família program. The program, created in 2003, supports families in poverty, targeting households with children aged 0-17, where their income is below R$170.00 ($33). Part of the program’s relaunch included events where a mascot, Zé Gotinha, featured to make vaccines appeal to children. “The Bolsa Família is coming back, and it is coming back with something important; it is coming back with conditions,” Lula said. Critics said this amounted to financial blackmail at worst, and medical coercion at best.
Days on, the STF intervened in the politics of the state of Rondônia by supporting the use of "gender-neutral" language in schools and other educational institutions. The ruling touched on broader ideological debates over "gender-neutral" language, which critics argued undermines the grammatical nature of gendered languages like Portuguese. One STF judge, Edson Fachin, stated that “gender neutral” language combats “linguistic prejudices,” removing biases that “discriminate” against different genders. They essentially allowed a trade union to dictate and control language against the express wish of parents.
In March 2023, Lula’s then-Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino, whom Lula recently appointed to STF, unveiled a draft bill to regulate speech on social media. The bill was based on a study commissioned by Moraes. Although it hasn’t yet passed into law, critics warn that its vague language could permanently and significantly limit speech in the country. The bill would require media platforms to report content to law enforcement agencies if it could potentially incite criminal activity. Even government-compliant platforms like Google have criticised the bill, arguing that it grants excessive powers to the government.
In April 2023, Dino announced new social media restrictions to combat an "epidemic" of child assaults, requiring platforms to ban users promoting violence against schools and share data with police. Failure to comply result in fines up to $2.4 million or blanket bans. Opponents argued there was a lack of evidence that social media played a role in the horrific attacks. After the hatchet attack in Blumenau, for example, where four children were brutally murdered, the local police commissioner said that it was “not related to any other criminal practice”. He added, it was “not coordinated, for example through social networks or conversations between criminals.” Lula’s government were set on targeting speech nevertheless.
Later in April, Federal Police raided Bolsonaro's home as part of “Operation Venire,” investigating allegations that he falsified Covid vaccination documents to travel to the United States. In total, authorities issued 16 search and seizure warrants and six arrest warrants, targeting Bolsonaro, his wife, daughter, and allies for allegedly faking vaccination records. The operation, reportedly authorised by Moraes, was linked to broader probes into "anti-democratic digital militias" that allegedly “spread disinformation”. Bolsonaro allies were quick to label the ordeal absurd, as the former president had on multiple occasions declared that he was not Covid vaccinated. It simply didn’t make sense as justification for an impromptu raid.
In June 2023, the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) filed a civil action to revoke conservative news network Jovem Pan’s three radio licenses, accusing it of “spreading disinformation” and advocating for military intervention during the 2022 election. MPF also sought to impose a $2.75 million fine for “collective moral damages.” The action included a requirement for Jovem Pan to air government content promoting the electoral process. The network’s lawyers responded, stating “what can be seen from the request for a preliminary injunction is a real attempt to intervene in Jovem Pan, without any further investigation in the inquisitorial or judicial sphere, something unacceptable in the democratic rule of law”.
Days later, the Moraes-headed TSE barred Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030, ruling that he abused his power. Five of seven judges determined Bolsonaro used government resources to boost his campaign and sow distrust in the election. The ruling made Bolsonaro the third Brazilian president to be barred from running for office again. The other two were Lula, whose ban was later overturned, and Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached on corruption charges and resigned three years after becoming Brazil’s first democratically elected president in 1989.
In January 2024, one of Brazil’s most prominent journalists, Paulo Figueiredo, sat down for an interview with Prager U’s Marissa Streit. Due to his opinions being labelled a "danger to democracy," Figueiredo revealed the STF took severe action against him—blocking his social media accounts, freezing his bank accounts, and imposing fines each time he discussed “anti-democratic” topics. The court even ordered the cancellation of his passport. Figueiredo had gained widespread recognition for his work on the JP News TV channel and as a co-host of the political show Os Pingos nos Is (“The Dots on the Is”), which consistently ranked as the top-rated program in its time slot. It also won the title of the country’s best political show for three consecutive years based on popular vote.
In May 2024, award-winning journalist Michael Shellenberger dropped 'the ‘Twitter Files - Brazil’, a trove of leaked emails between Twitter's legal counsel in Brazil, Rafael Batista, and Lula-allied congressmen, police departments, and Justice Moraes. Dating back to Bolsonaro’s presidency, they revealed Batista faced pressure from these parties to release users’ personal information, access internal Twitter data, and censor posts by members of Congress. The files also exposed efforts to weaponise Twitter’s moderation policies against Bolsonaro supporters, including his son, Carlos Bolsonaro. Under the threat of fines from TSE, Twitter eventually complied with some demands, even though the content in question did not violate any legal statutes.
Later in May, Rumble CEO Christopher Pavlovski told Congress that his company made the "tough decision" to exit the Brazil. Pavlovski was one of several witnesses, including censored journalists, who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the erosion of civil rights in Brazil. Pavlovski revealed the Brazilian government had requested Rumble to remove specific creators from its platform. He emphasised that the content in question did not violate Rumble’s policies, but expressed opinions "unpopular" to the Brazilian establishment. “Rumble made the difficult decision not to comply with the government’s request… we disabled access for users in Brazil while we challenged the legality of the Supreme Court’s demands,” Pavlovski explained.
In June 2024, The Wall Street Journal released a story about Filipe Martins, a former adviser to Bolsonaro, who had been imprisoned for 144 days based on false travel records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which mistakenly claimed he entered the U.S. on December 30, 2022. Moraes declared Martins a “flight risk” and used the erroneous CBP records to justify his imprisonment, despite evidence proving Martins was in Brazil. CBP initially confirmed there was no record of his entry, but allegedly later altered logs to match an false name. Mainstream papers clarified Martins’ correct travel history but Moraes still refused to release him. The CBP also refuses to clarify why Martins’ logs were changed.
In August 2024, Folha de São Paulo reported that Moraes ordered the production of flimsy, unofficial reports to evidence rulings against Bolsonaro allies. While leading the TSE from 2022 to 2024, Moraes reportedly made these requests through his adviser, Airton Vieira, as a part of the broad fake news probe. Folha uncovered messages revealing at least two dozen irregular requests, leading to actions such as canceling passports, blocking social media accounts, and summoning Bolsonaro supporters for questioning (most likely as an intimidation tactic). One particularly incriminating message from Vieira to a staffer concerning dissident journalist Rodrigo Constantino read, "Eduardo, block and fine him through the STF. Please go all out on the report. Haha. Then, send it officially, via email. Thanks."
Earlier this month, X owner Elon Musk publicly criticised Moraes, calling him "an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge" for ordering the censorship of certain accounts on X. After Musk refused to comply, Moraes instructed Brazil’s telecom agency to block access to X nationwide. According to The New York Times, the judge also threatened fines of nearly $9,000 per day to any citizen that attempted to access the platform. Moraes then reportedly froze SpaceX’s Starlink service in Brazil to collect $3 million in fines levied against X, accusing the platform of enabling "disinformation" and "hate speech" that "undermined democracy." To date, news outlet Breitbart claims Moraes has ordered the banning of at least 140 accounts, including very prominent conservative figures in Brazil.
Days ago, X began releasing the "Alexandre Files" in response to the ban. The company published an STF order, signed by Justice Moraes on August 8, demanding that seven accounts, including Senator Marcos do Val's, be blocked within two hours. Failure to comply would result in a daily fine of nearly $9,000. X condemned the order as a “direct violation of Brazilian law,” arguing it breached Articles 5 and 220 of the Constitution. The files also revealed that Moraes’ censorship targeted do Val after he accused Brazil’s Federal Police Chief, Fabio Alvarez Shor, of human rights violations. Moraes further labeled a repost by do Val, showing alleged police misconduct against children, as a criminal act.
Maria’s Story
During our call, Maria described a country in societal decay. She no longer dares to talk politics, fearing her fellow citizens might report her. “It’s like Covid lockdown snitching on steroids”, she said. She doesn’t know who’s watching and who’s listening. And with a judiciary that has shown its willingness to sacrifice basic liberties in the name of “safety”, her wariness only deepens.
Maria now avoids commenting on social media. Police and their special disinformation investigation units might surveil and charge her. She relies on encrypted apps to maintain what little anonymity she can, worried that her past criticisms of Lula online might come back to haunt her. Even companies like Uber, she said, are readily complying with Lula’s administration and the STF’s hyper-partisan court orders to obtain personal data.
Constant fear defines her existence. She recalled attending a parents' meeting for her child, where all the parents were chatting. She deliberately stood alone, avoiding conversation, afraid she might say something she’d later regret. The events unfolding in Brazil have caused her to limit basic social interaction.
One of the most troubling consequences of Brazil’s judiciary and Lula’s government, she explained, is their total control over narratives. Legal threats and punishments have driven critics underground, allowing the progressive contingent to become emboldened. The left’s influence over institutions, especially schools, has thus become increasingly greater. Gender ideology is as pervasive as its ever been.
Citing the many human rights violations—including the political abuse of legal procedures to persecute opposition figures, the imprisonment of political opponents on dubious charges, the suppression of free speech and press freedoms, the banning of individuals from social media, and censorship disguised as "disinformation" laws—Maria feels she has no choice but to withdraw from society. She is actively working to move to the countryside, seeking isolation.
She lives in a country where journalists face criminal investigation for simply reporting on the STF’s actions. Something, of course, which stems from the STF’s broad interpretation of a by-law some five years ago that enabled them (Moraes) to investigate, intimidate, and essentially ‘de-person’ anyone whose actions they don’t like. For Maria, escape is now the only option. She has to get out.
Hope for Future
There remains hope. Last Saturday, on Brazilian Independence Day, tens of thousands of conservatives gathered in São Paulo to protest Lula and Moraes. Mainstream sources said the event attracted 45,000 people, which was based off a study from a local university. But videos show in excess of 100,000. Some estimate it neared a quarter of a million.
Bolsonaro addressed the crowd, urging his fellow citizens to "pump the brakes on those who surpass the limits of our constitution." His allies in the Senate are expected to file articles of impeachment against Moraes in the near future.
São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas delivered one of the most memorable remarks of the day, telling the crowd, “freedom is like a leafy tree, and this tree bears fruit. The fruits of this tree are democracy, free enterprise, and prosperity. If this tree dies, the fruits die; and if the fruits die, our future dies.”
*This article has been updated to include further details about the attendance of the Independence Day rally and Lula and Moraes’ crackdowns. (If you’re knowledgeable on Brazil and notice I’ve missed something, please get in touch and I’ll add it to the list).
Do you think if things stay the way they are our best days are ahead of us?
Are you going to sit down and watch as our media/government officials push for yet more invasive, authoritarian, censorious policy?
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Wow, the similarities between Lula da Silva and Moraes with Biden/Harris and Garland are unbelievable. Both administrations have corrupted their government while calling it ‘protecting democracy.’ To make it even worse, US is a Constitutional Republic, but now more like a tyrannical regime just like Brazil.
The photographs of people are quite telling and high quality, emotional. They alone tell a story.