SÃO PAULO — The Brazilian Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro of coercion, the same case that resulted in his father, ex‑President Jair Bolsonaro, receiving a 27‑year prison sentence for an alleged coup attempt.
He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, with all five judges agreeing that he illegally lobbied the United States government to pressure Brazilian officials and halt the trial.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also presided over the former president’s coup case, remarked that a federal legislator’s role does not include lobbying foreign governments against his own country. He and his wife were sanctioned by the United States in July of the previous year.
Eduardo Bolsonaro’s attorneys have contested the verdict, arguing that there is insufficient evidence for a conviction. He has been residing in Texas since February 2025.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro faced a 50 % tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump last year in response to the former president’s prosecution for attempting to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Relations between Trump and President Lula improved in early May when Lula visited the White House, but in June the U.S. administration again proposed a 25 % tariff on Brazilian imports, citing what it called unreasonable trade practices by the world’s tenth‑largest economy.
During his May visit to Washington, Lula presented Trump with documentation indicating that the United States holds a trade surplus with Brazil.
Eduardo Bolsonaro has not commented on the Supreme Court’s ruling. He is campaigning for his brother, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is expected to challenge President Lula in the October elections, although his candidacy has been marred by a recent scandal involving a payment to a disgraced banker.
Both Eduardo and Flávio Bolsonaro recently traveled to Washington, where they met with U.S. officials, including President Trump.
