Esther Imonmion
Brazil’s chief prosecutor on Monday charged Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, with coercion.
The attorney general’s office alleged that Eduardo, a congressman, repeatedly subordinated the interests of the republic to his family’s political agenda, exposing Brazil to threats of sanctions from foreign governments.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who relocated to the United States earlier this year, dismissed the charges as “bogus” and “absurd” in a post on social media platform X. He claimed the announcement underscored his “ongoing political persecution” and said he only learned of the indictment through the press.
The move comes weeks after Jair Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022, was sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of plotting a coup.
Prosecutors said they will also seek “compensation for damages resulting from the criminal actions.” Businessman Paulo Figueiredo, grandson of former dictator João Batista Figueiredo, was also named in the charges.
Eduardo, who has described his stay in the US as “exile” for fear of arrest in Brazil, has openly lobbied the Trump administration for support for his father. In July 2025, US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil, a move Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned as “not only misguided but illogical.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday announced sanctions against the wife of Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the ex-president’s trial. Justice de Moraes described the sanctions as “illegal and regrettable.”