Name: Brazil's Bolsonaro banned from using social media, ordered to wear monitoring device | DW News
Uploaded: 2025-07-19T17:48:14.000Z
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Brazil's Supreme Court has banned former President Jair Bolsonaro from using social media and ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device as he awaits the verdict in his trial.

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Bolsonaro called the measures politically motivated and humiliating, and rejected fears he was planning to flee abroad.

He is finding charges of plotting to overthrow the government of his successor, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, following his election defeat in 2022.

The trial has prompted a tariff feud with the US.

Freelance journalist Sam Cowie joins us from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to talk more about this.

Why did the presiding judge order these particular set of measures, these restraining orders, do you think?

Well, according to the documents that I've seen, it's because, and have been made public in fact, these documents, it is because the Supreme Court Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes, he alleges that Bolsonaro is plotting an escape and also that his son, who is in the United States at the moment, is essentially, between the two, they are plotting to economically damage Brazil via these Trump tariffs.

Bolsonaro's son Eduardo has a line to the White House or has some contacts with lines to the White House, at least.

And it's alleging, the Supreme Court Justice has alleged that the family are trying to damage Brazil economically via these tariffs in order for Bolsonaro Sr. to be relieved of the charges, for the charges against him to be dropped, for there to be an amnesty.

And this is basically what this whole argument is about.

It's about Bolsonaro Sr., the charges against him being dropped.

And Bolsonaro's supporters from the beginning have said that these are kind of, you know, this is political persecution, while those on the left and those in the government say that, you know, no, this was a very serious attempt at a violent interruption of power when Lula was reelected president in 2022 and took office in 2023.

And perhaps our viewers will remember those chaotic scenes in Brasilia when an angry mob of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the capital, you know, defacing buildings, you know, destroying National Congress and the Supreme Court building.

He was described as a populist president while in office.

Is he still popular, Sam, and is he still a legitimate political threat to Lula da Silva?

Yeah, he definitely is still popular, though probably not as popular as he was.

There's still probably a, let's say, 15 to 20 percent of hardcore Bolsonaro supporters amongst the Brazilian population that will sit through him basically through anything.

You could probably say about a third of the electorate also supports Lula through anything.

So what we're likely seeing, you know, in the next elections in 2026 will be another tight election where you have a large portion of the population that will decide who they are voting against necessarily, not necessarily voting for, but they're voting against Bolsonaro.

So they're going to vote for Lula or they're voting against Lula.

So they're going to vote for whoever, whatever candidate is chosen to take over from Bolsonaro.

And that's where things really get interesting at the moment, because with all of this tariff We will have to leave it there, I'm afraid.

We're seeing people more and more difficult for Bolsonaro to choose a successor.