Mario Balaban
Thirteen years ago, I moved to
the United States from Brazil. Part of the reason I left was that my family was
fed up with the crime, corruption, and socialist policies which ran rampant in
my former home. But recently, with the election of President Jair Bolsonaro,
who ran on an anti-crime, anti-corruption, and anti-socialist platform, I began
to have some hope for Brazil.
Since coming into office,
Bolsonaro has faced an uphill battle. Though he won the election by over 10 percentage points, his opponents are still trying to remove him from power.
Their method? Using the Supreme Court to strip the free speech rights of his
most vocal supporters.
The court is composed of 11
Ministers, seven of which were appointed by the far-left Workers’ Party and
four others that were appointed by former Brazilian presidents still under
investigation for wide-ranging corruption.
 |
| Minister Alexandre de Morais, photo: Eraldo Peres/AP |
The Brazilian Supreme Court
only has one item on their agenda: removing the democratically elected
president, Jair Bolsonaro, from power through any means possible. The court’s
judges have not accepted the October 2018 election results and detest
Bolsonaro’s anti-establishment background. Given that the large majority of
these judges were appointed by socialist presidents, their anti-Bolsonaro
attitude isn’t surprising to most Brazilians.
What we see today is the
culmination of the socialist establishment’s efforts, which resulted in the
now-infamous “Fake News” investigation, launched in 2019 by the Supreme Court.
They purport to investigate mass-scale “fake news” that they believe is
endangering Brazilian democratic institutions. In reality, the investigation
does nothing but target vocal conservative Bolsonaro supporters and force them
into silence.
To further expose the
investigation’s double standard, not a single radical Marxist activist or
politician in Brazil has been under investigation for spreading fake news. Not
even when they openly defend Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and claim that he is
a great and honorable leader.
So far, the “Fake News” investigation has led to personal property seizures, censorship,
and even arrests of a social media influencer and a journalist.
What the investigation did not do is find “fake news.”
Even with the lack of
evidence, the Supreme Court has decided to double down on the investigation.
Recently, Supreme Court
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who leads the “Fake News” investigation, went so
far as to order Facebook and Twitter to shut down people’s public profiles. At first,
Facebook and Twitter did not want to comply with the order, but a daily fine of
20,000 Brazilian Reais (around 3,750 US Dollars) was placed that forced the
American social media giants to comply.
The fact that
anti-conservative Big Tech companies originally did not want to obey Moraes’
censorship decision shows just how far the Supreme Court in Brazil has gone.
Even these BigTech companies think that Brazil’s Supreme Court is setting a terrible precedent for speech rights around the world, but are facing fines if
they do not follow the court’s orders.
Moraes has conducted the “Fake
News” investigation in complete secrecy, barely allowing the investigated
parties to know what crimes they are being accused of. In June, for example,
the lawyer for one of the investigated conservative journalists, Allan dos
Santos, said he and his client were being kept in the dark about this investigation. Also,
Allan said he didn’t even know if he was just being investigated or was already
considered a defendant in this case. Just more proof that Moraes’ irrational
behavior is completely unprecedented and Orwellian in nature.
Worse yet, there is absolutely
no one in Brazil that can stop this tyranny. The Supreme Court is the ultimate
judicial power, and they are unchallenged as they proceed with these heinous
acts against the Brazilian people’s civil liberties. Moraes will continue to
push forward with this investigation regardless of the public outcry against
it. The reason this “Fake News” investigation even exists in the first place is
because the Supreme Court knows that by criminalizing conservative thought,
they will be able to criminalize Bolsonaro’s presidency.
To date, there are no laws in
Brazil about “fake news” that justify such an investigation. Unfortunately,
Brazil’s Congress is helping the Supreme Court by voting to put such laws in
the books. Brazilian Congressional leaders are in the process of passing a law
that would punish anyone who posts what they deem to be “fake news” with prison
time, and they even want to monitor people’s social media accounts in a way
that eliminates any and all individual privacy rights. The law is so draconian
that even the left-wing group, Human Rights Watch, has come out publicly against it.
The truth is, the socialist
establishment’s desperation and need to hold on to power has put them on a path
of no return: they wish to curtail speech rights on a permanent basis. They are
more than willing to generate political unrest in Brazil in order to silence
their opponents.
As I speak with Brazilians
about this situation, there is one recurring theme they tell me: Americans must
know what is happening in Brazil. A very large number of Brazilians admire the
United States and hope that their country emulates the American model one day.
They were proud to host CPAC Brazil last year and welcome several American conservatives to speak
to them. Throughout the event, American Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald
Trump received roaring applause from the crowd every time they were mentioned.
President Bolsonaro and the
large majority of Brazilian people want to strengthen ties with the United
States, and that is certainly something that bothers the socialist Supreme
Court.
As patriots, Brazilians and
Americans must join forces against attacks on our most basic freedoms. The
anti-freedom socialist threat has manifested itself recently in the United
States, a threat that Brazilians are all too familiar with. It is important to
understand that strong cooperation between freedom-loving countries is the only
way to halt the advance of tyranny.
With all of that being said,
American support would mean so much for Brazilians at this time, and I am
certain many Brazilians would be eternally grateful for it.
Mario Balaban is a
conservative from Brazil who currently lives in the United States. He attended
Bryant University in Rhode Island, graduating with an International Business
degree in 2016. His ongoing mission is to fight for Western ideals and expose
wrongdoing at every turn.
Townhall,
Aug 29, 2020 12:01 AM
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