Journalist Michael Shellenberger: Brazil’s Spiral into CCP-Like Tyranny Should Scare Americans

PJ Media ^ | 04/13/2024 | Catherine Salgado

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As Brazil rapidly descends into authoritarianism, courting the favor of the world’s worst dictatorship (Chinese Communists), meanwhile, journalist Michael Shellenberger warns Americans that we, too, are heading down Brazil’s path.

From allegedly aiming to criminalize “lying” to threatening to arrest those who exposed the country’s increasingly tyrannical judiciary, Brazil’s government under President Lula is trying to turn itself into a perfect Orwellian dystopia. That’s exactly why Shellenberger, who wrote the Twitter Files that exposed the corruption, is so concerned. Brazil might be more rapid in crushing rights and freedoms, but the US government is also blatantly violating rights while pandering to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Regarding Brazil, we Americans can say only, “There, but for the grace of God and an upcoming election, go I.”

Shellenberger posted on Twitter/X April 13, “Yesterday, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva called for criminalizing lying. Given that everybody lies, Lula is proposing to give the government the power to arrest anyone he wants.” I would personally modify his statement slightly by saying that, if Shellenberger’s accusation is correct, Lula, who is not the least interested in the truth, has only to label any fact or opinion he dislikes as a lie to weaponize government.

“Thousands of Workers Party activists took to X yesterday to demand that I be arrested for things I said during my testimony before the Brazilian Senate. And today, the head of X in Brazil announced they have quit out of fear for their safety,” Shellenberger continued. He wrote “I fear neither the devil nor de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice rapidly turning himself into Brazil’s dictator,” but he is afraid for Brazil. Since Brazil is such an important South American country, too, and partnered with such major global powers as China,

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Shellenberger has an excellent, though terrifying, point. One could escape the Old World by fleeing to the New World in previous ages. That will soon no longer be true. Just ask the Jan. 6 political prisoners, tortured and denied not only rights but basic necessities in jail. Ask the pro-lifers and Trump allies prosecuted by the Biden administration.

“A significant share of the Left wants to incarcerate their political enemies,” Shellenberger mourned. “The Brazilian government appears to view ‘1984’ not as a dystopia to avoid but rather as a guide to a better future.” He added, “Just this week, top Brazilian government representatives were in China talking about how China, one of the most totalitarian nations in the world, is a model for Brazil.” Both Brazil and China are key members of BRICS, which has set itself up as an ambitious anti-American coalition.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

And just like Venezuela, they voted their dictator in. (Well, that’s the public version, anyway.)

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