During the military regime, hundreds of Brazilians persecuted by the junta of generals who seized power in 1964 left the country seeking asylum. Now, 45 years later, Brazil once again has political prisoners and asylum seekers, but this time under a ruthless judicial regime led by the Supreme Court, with the unconditional support of Lula’s third term. This is the case for those involved in the protest that took place on January 8th, 2023. With protesters being sent back to the Papuda and Colmeia penitentiaries, as well as to state prisons after convictions of up to 17 years, people targeted by the Supreme Court have left everything behind to seek refuge abroad.
Some of the difficulties faced by those who risk living far from home include being completely unfamiliar with the country they are in, being viewed with suspicion by locals and finding a job. This situation illustrates the “new normal” for a 35-year-old man from São Paulo, currently living in Argentina. When he was in Brazil, he supported his wife and children by working as a waiter, as well as making deliveries for an app to make ends meet. Most of his resources were spent on caring for family members, some of whom suffer from a rare disease. Today, these people live off help from friends and state aid.
For the man, who has no routine or friends where he currently lives, the days pass slowly and become distressing when he remembers the relatives he left without saying goodbye, in a desperate escape that required the forced removal of his electronic ankle monitor. Still unable to regularize his status in the new country, the January 8 prisoner sentenced to almost 17 years in jail also has no work and survives on the help of people who assist him with food, clothing, and shelter. One of his concerns is staying healthy, as he has no health insurance or means to access the public health system.
The situation is similar for a middle-aged man from the state of Paraná, who also traded Brazil for Argentina to escape the sentence of more than 10 years in prison imposed by the Supreme Court. The man spends his days looking for work but has difficulty finding even simple jobs, such as driving a truck or clearing land. Moreover, he must deal with the deep depression he developed while still in Papuda. The disease has worsened since his escape, especially when he remembers the day he said goodbye to his wife and young son, both entirely dependent on his income. Currently, the man lives on donations from local churches and other people in the area who sympathize with his situation.
The drama of the January 8 asylum seekers is even greater for a 57-year-old woman from the state of Minas Gerais, who is living in Uruguay now. With her bank accounts frozen by order of justice Alexandre de Moraes and the imminent possibility of returning to the torment of Colmeia, she chose the most extreme path in an attempt to seek freedom abroad and also to financially help relatives who rely on her in Brazil. According to the woman, the sentence she may serve is just unfair, as she hadn’t broken anything and only took shelter inside the Planalto Palace to dodge stun grenades.
When leaving Brazil in mid-February this year in the company of other protesters, she ended up being abandoned by them in a Uruguayan city, with only a small suitcase and the clothes on her back. After going through a lot of hardship and being homeless, she got help from benevolent people and now supports herself with odd jobs. Despite all this, she does not plan to return home anytime soon, mainly because of the fear of spending 17 years in prison, unable to see friends and relatives, including her husband and children, one of whom has a disability.
These and other Brazilians who have fled the country join others who have been in exile for much longer, such as journalists Allan dos Santos and Oswaldo Eustáquio. Santos has lived in the United States since 2020, when he became the target of inquiries opened by the Supreme Court. The country’s Highest Court, in turn, has made attempts to try to extradite him – all, so far, unsuccessful. When refusing one of the letters from the Ministry of Justice of the Lula administration, in partnership with justice Moraes, the U.S. State Department denied the request. This is because U.S. authorities understood it to be a “crime of opinion.” The department emphasized that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
In addition to asylum seekers, Brazil has thousands of political prisoners chained to ankle monitors and serving “restrictive measures” due to the January 8 protests. Most of these people, who should be being tried at a court of first instance, are forced to choose between waiting for trial to be locked up in a penitentiary in their home state and signing a “non-criminal prosecution agreement” with the Attorney General’s Office – yet having to confess to crimes they simply didn’t commit. According to the most recent data released by the Supreme Court, while more than a thousand people are still awaiting trial by the Court, 173 have already been convicted. In addition, 172 agreements have been signed between protesters and the Attorney General’s Office and have already been approved by the Supreme Court.
This Dantesque scenario puts Brazil on the list that includes the dictatorships of Venezuela, Cuba, Angola, Iran, and North Korea, the main sources of political asylum seekers. These are autocratic regimes that persecute not only ordinary people who disagree with the dominant establishment’s thinking, but also renowned political opponents. In Chavista Venezuela, for example, important figures in the fight against the dictatorship, such as Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate for President in 2012 and 2013, end up in jail with sentences that can reach 20 years. Recently, dictator Nicolás Maduro arrested members of former congresswoman María Corina Machado’s campaign and sent them to a prison notorious for torture.
In Brazil, prominent figures are also being held with no prospect of release. This is the case of former congressmen Daniel Silveira and Roberto Jefferson. In addition to having their lives suspended, Silveira and his wife, lawyer Paola Silva Daniel, had their assets (amounting to nearly R$ 1 million) frozen by justice Moraes since the Supreme Court’s conviction of the former parliamentarian to eight years and six months in jail. Jefferson, on the other hand, is in a hospital in the south side of the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he is being treated for a serious cancer and diabetes.
The word “fear” walks side by side with “dictatorship.” In the Rule of Law, there cannot be a single human being who, without having committed any crime, sees in any authority of the Judiciary a threat that can only be neutralized by silence, unconditional surrender, or flight. In a genuine democracy, that’s not how it works. In August 1979, the broad, general, and unrestricted amnesty approved by Parliament pardoned crimes on all sides and reunited people uprooted from their family environment. It is up to Congress to repeat the feat and expedite the approval of pardons for the January 8 prisoners so that Brazil can go back to normal after five years buried under such fear.
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