Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party (PT) today rejects threats by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for his firm action against the coup plotters.

Rubio confirmed on Wednesday at a hearing in the US House of Representatives that a sanction against de Moraes was «under consideration» and was a «strong possibility».

The reason is the judge’s action against digital platforms, considered by Donald Trump’s government as an attack on free speech.

A veto on their entry into the northern nation and the seizure of any assets in US cities would be on the list of measures.

The issue has become part of the considerations of the Brazilian government, which considers that any possible action by Washington will have to be seen in the context of an attack on sovereignty, and not just an individual act against a compatriot.

«Brazil is a sovereign nation that bases its external relations on the principles of non-intervention, self-determination of peoples and equality between states», states a note from the PT bench in the Chamber of Deputies, signed by its leader Lindbergh Farias.

It reaffirms its «repudiation of any attempt at external interference in the internal affairs of the country, especially when it comes to judicial decisions that seek to protect the democratic rule of law».

The PT parliamentarians point out that they defend the independence and harmony between powers, as well as the sovereignty of Brazilian institutions.

They insist on repelling «the US government’s attempt to politicise judicial decisions, undermining Brazilian sovereignty and the STF (Supreme Federal Court) for its action against the coup plotters», led by former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The text recognises that the Supreme Court, «under the supervision of De Moraes, is advancing in the trial against those responsible for the anti-democratic coup conspiracy that culminated, on 8 January 2023, in terrorist attacks on the headquarters of the Three Powers».

The date will be remembered as a brutal attempt to destroy democracy in Brazil,» the content remarks.

«We will not tolerate any form of foreign submission or interference in our legal system. Our commitment is to a just, democratic and sovereign country, in which the people decide their destiny without external interference», the message finally underlines.

Journalist Jamil Chade, a columnist for the UOL portal, believes that the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will treat any possible sanction against De Moraes as «external interference» in Brazil’s internal affairs and an attack on the country’s sovereignty, and not just as an act against a judge.