CNN
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Police in Brazil swooped on the home and political headquarters of Jair Bolsonaro early Friday, searching the properties, ordering the former president to wear an electronic ankle tag, barring him from speaking to foreign officials and prohibiting him from using social media.
CNN Brazil said police also seized an unspecified amount of US dollars in cash.
Bolsonaro is on trial over an alleged plot to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election and remain in power. He could face more than four decades behind bars if found guilty of masterminding the coup. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.
The raid came as US President Donald Trump has tried to force his current Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to end a criminal trial against his predecessor by threatening crippling tariffs on the country.
Trump last week threatened Brazil with tariffs of 50% starting August 1, according to a letter posted to his social media platform, Truth Social.
In the letter, Trump linked the tariff threat to what he described as a “witch hunt” trial against Bolsonaro, a close ally.
Speaking exclusively to CNN Thursday, da Silva, who is widely known as Lula, said that Trump’s threats had broken away from “protocol” and argued that his predecessor’s fate cannot be part of trade negotiations.
“The judiciary branch of power in Brazil is independent. The president of the Republic has no influence whatsoever,” he said, adding that Bolsonaro “is not being judged personally. He is being judged by the acts he tried to organize a coup d’etat.”
Lula added that Trump would be standing trial in his country if the actions he took during the January 6 insurrection had been committed in Brazil.
On Friday, Trump posted a letter to Bolsonaro on Truth Social, in which he suggested the former Brazilian leader was the victim of an “unjust system” and said that he would be “watching closely.”
Bolsonaro posted Trump’s letter on his official X account and thanked Trump for his support with “eternal gratitude,” in a subsequent video.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Ana Melgar and Marcelo Medeiros contributed reporting.
