Overview
- Treasury’s OFAC on Dec. 12 delisted De Moraes, his wife and the Instituto Lex, posting the change without a detailed public rationale.
- The July designations, made under Global Magnitsky authorities, followed U.S. allegations of censorship, arbitrary detentions and politicized prosecutions tied to the Bolsonaro case, along with earlier visa restrictions.
- A senior U.S. official said the reversal followed the lower house’s approval of a major amnesty bill viewed in Washington as a sign that Brazil’s “judicial war” is easing.
- The decision comes after renewed Trump–Lula engagement, including a phone call last weekend and a positive October meeting that both sides say improved relations.
- Brazil’s government hailed the move and credited Lula’s diplomacy, while Bolsonaro allies, including his son Eduardo, criticized the decision; related legal and legislative steps continue as the Senate still must consider the bill affecting Bolsonaro’s sentence, and U.S. trade measures imposed earlier this year have been partly rolled back.