Several Brazilian opposition legislators went to the European Parliament in Brussels this week to condemn the "government tyranny" of Lula da Silva in Brazil. Deputies Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bia Kicis and Gustavo Gayer, all members of the Liberal Party (PL), took the floor in front of a panel of lawmakers from the European Union.
The Brazilian legislators were invited by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, a group within the European Parliament. Spanish conservative MP Hermann Tertsch invited his Brazilian counterparts.
🚨URGENTE - Deputado Gustavo Gayer denuncia a ditadura brasileira no parlamento Europeu! pic.twitter.com/fCWgYhhIS5
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) April 11, 2024
Gustavo Gayer, Eduardo Bolsonaro and Bia Kicis accused Lula da Silva's government of weaponizing the country's justice system via Supreme Federal Court of Brazil Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is also president of the Superior Electoral Court and a former socialist minister of justice. The Brazilian government's goal, according to PL members, is to persecute and intimidate the opposition.
The PL deputies claim that Lula's current government is taking the country down the same path as Venezuela, illustrating this with a series of comparisons throughout their speeches. These similarities were also pointed out by political analyst Jack Posobiec at CPAC 2024. The foreign policy of Lula's government also faced harsh criticism, especially due to the diplomatic clash that da Silva provoked with Israel by accepting Hamas' narrative and accusing Netanyahu's government of committing genocide in Gaza.
The Brazilian deputies' appearance also came just days after the escalation of tension between the Brazil and tech mogul Elon Musk. The Supreme Federal Court opened an investigation against Musk for "obstruction of justice, membership in a criminal organization and incitement to crime."
🚨 #BREAKING | Brazil's Supreme Court has just opened an investigation against Elon Musk for obstruction of justice by not allowing X accounts to be censored on the orders of Jorge Messias, Brazil's attorney general, along with Judge Alexandre de Moraes and President Lula. pic.twitter.com/dlbLyKV2iK
— VOZ (@Voz_US) April 8, 2024
Brazil is accusing Musk of refusing to obey court orders, which requested the elimination of a series of accounts on the social media platform X. Elon Musk refused to comply, assuring that such interference by the justice system is an attack on freedom of speech. Many of the accounts being targeted by the Brazilian court, led by socialist Alexandre de Moraes, belong to members of the opposition, members of Congress and journalists who are not sympathetic to the current government of Lula da Silva.
Following the appearance of the PL deputies in Europe, Elon Musk published a series of messages in support of the Brazilian deputies. Among other messages, Musk reposted a report by Michael Shellenberger about the censorship strategy used by the socialists in Brazil. He also shared words from Brazilian journalist Rodrigo Constantino, who is being investigated by the Brazilian Federal Police and has since been subjected to a series of censorship tactics by the state. Finally, Musk posted a message on X wall in which he says that "the severity of the censorship and the degree to which Brazil’s own laws are being broken, to the detriment of their own people, is the worst of any country in the world in which this platform operates."
The severity of the censorship and the degree to which Brazil’s own laws are being broken, to the detriment of their own people, is the worst of any country in the world in which this platform operates. https://t.co/dWa3Mkrkas
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2024
'Twitter Files' in Brazil
Elon Musk claims to have a series of files that prove the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court's attempt to interfere with X. In particular, he points to Judge and former Minister Alexandre de Moraes, in an alleged plot that began before Musk acquired the social network.
Elon said that Alexandre has Lula on a leash and that he put his finger on the scale to elect him. As a member of the Brazilian congress and representing millions of people, I ask you to give us more information. This will be crucial for the future of our country, @elonmusk.
— Nikolas Ferreira (@nikolas_dm) April 9, 2024
Members of the Brazilian National Congress asked Elon Musk to release the information he has about the pressure from de Moraes. The businessman responded that he would only do so once he has guarantees that X workers in Brazil are safe from any kind of retaliation from the court or the government.
