Free Republic

Here in the U.S., with few exceptions, we have a commendable tradition that victorious politicians do not use the criminal justice system to prosecute or otherwise disable their rivals and adversaries. At the presidential level, before Trump the two most prominent examples against that tradition were the prosecution of Aaron Burr by Thomas Jefferson in 1807, and the prosecution of Eugene Debs by Woodrow Wilson in 1918. Otherwise, our defeated presidential candidates have gone peacefully to retirement. But then, after Trump was defeated in 2020, that tradition was abrogated in rather spectacular fashion. At both the federal and state levels,...

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Monday annulled a series of criminal convictions against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, possibly setting the stage for his political comeback. Justice Edson Fachin set aside graft convictions against the popular 74-year-old former labor leader stemming from the "Carwash" corruption probe, in which Lula da Silva was convicted of bribery and other crimes in connection with the state-run oil company Petrobras. His 12-year prison sentence in April 2018 prevented him from running against right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Fachin's ruling, however, removed a key obstacle against another run next year. The high...

Bolsonaro: 47.18% Lula: 44.98% BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, and Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off in a runoff Oct. 25 for the top job of Latin America’s powerhouse economy after neither won a majority in Sunday’s vote.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was right to grant a visa to Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and his family. As President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, grows increasingly vindictive and authoritarian, the United States should make clear that political persecution has adverse consequences. Supporting freedom and democracy in Latin America means standing behind those whose right to challenge the government is under threat. Offering protection to an opposition leader in the region’s biggest and most populous nation upholds America’s principles and serves its strategic interests. Bolsonaro and his family arrived in the U.S. this week after...

The West is systematically destroying freedom of speech in a startlingly rapid and blunt manner. Increasingly, the authorities are unashamed of their actions in doing so. The revolution, as Stephen Coughlin has predicted, is going from covert to Overt. This first story is about a theatre in the UK cancelling a documentary about the destruction of freedom of speech in the UK. No irony seems to be felt by the theatre. SPIKE: Our free-speech documentary has been cancelled You would think that banning a documentary about free speech would be a bad look for a cultural institution. But that’s precisely...

Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro declared himself the leader of Brazil's opposition Wednesday after arriving in the United States with his family, accusing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government and Brazil's powerful Supreme Court of orchestrating political persecution following a disputed presidential election. In a defiant statement resembling the declaration of a government-in-exile leader, Bolsonaro vowed to direct Brazil's opposition from American soil, comparing his struggle to historic resistance movements led by Charles de Gaulle and Venezuelan opposition figures. "I want to tell not only my 60 million voters, but the Brazilian people, that I am the leader," Bolsonaro...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, October 20, 2025. Evaristo Sa / AFP. The persecution of ordinary citizens on behalf of the LGBT movement will be funded by the state—that is, by the taxpayers being targeted. President Lula da Silva’s Brazil has taken another step towards totalitarianism with the launch of a massive platform designed to streamline the prosecution of those who criticize LGBT ideology. With Orwellian irony, it has been called the ‘Platform of Respect.’ “The Ministry of Human Rights, in partnership with the NGO Aliança Nacional LGBTI+, launched a platform aimed at holding legally accountable authors of...

The US Department of the Treasury has lifted sanctions imposed on the Brazilian supreme court justice who oversaw the conviction of the former president Jair Bolsonaro. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had been under Global Magnitsky sanctions, which target individuals accused of human rights abuses, since July. His wife Viviane Barci de Moraes – who was added the sanctions list in September – was also removed from the register on Friday. The move had been repeatedly requested by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in negotiations with Donald Trump to roll back the 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports. The decision...

Flavio Bolsonaro and his family have fled Brazil and will be granted visas by the State Department to enter the United States. Bolsonaro, who has stopped short of conceding this weekend’s election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was reportedly set to arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday evening despite an investigation into him in Brazil. He is understood to be joined by his wife and two daughters. “The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” a Trump administration official told the Washington Examiner. The former right-wing...

BREAKING: Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly FLED Brazil in anticipation of communist dictator Lula persecuting him after the outcome of the rigged election He crossed the border into Argentina and took a private flight to the US. Democracy is dead.

The shift to the right across South America has been stopped. One of President Trump’s key regional allies has been defeated. The global left, and most of the centre, has been celebrating the victory of President Lula over Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely fought election this weekend. There is just one problem. As the brutal sell-off of financial assets demonstrated, Brazil has also voted for economic chaos. That rarely ends well. While the left were toasting victory on Monday morning, investors were furiously dumping Brazilian equities and, more importantly, debt. On Monday the Bovespa – Brazil’s main stock market index...

BREAKING: Brazil's election could be annulled, according to the New York Times. Electoral lawyers say Brazil's current situation is "extremely serious" and a "critical situation." The NYT reports that confusion over a last-minute voting extension by Justice Cristiano Zanin, who was appointed by Lula, could lead to the election being annulled. "This is an extremely serious, critical situation," said electoral lawyer Priscilla Sodré Pereira to the New York Times. When Zanin made the last-minute decision to extend voting hours, some polling stations had already closed and shut down their voting machines. They could not reopen. "Fernando Neisser, an electoral law...

BRASILIA — After a late-night ballot dump and several emergency court rulings, Joe Biden was declared the surprise winner of Brazil's presidential election, securing 81 million votes. Brazilians were left in disbelief by the result as Joe Biden did not run for President of Brazil, wasn't on the ballot, and is probably dead. "I don't want to come off as an election denier, but I can't help but feel like there's something fishy here," said local man Miguel Santos. "There were only two choices on the ballot, and neither one was Joe Biden. In the latest polls, Bolsonaro was leading...

Investors had hoped for friendly overhauls such as spending cuts and deregulation Brazilian financial assets were swept by a historic rout Monday after the surprise election victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrong-footed investors who had bet on his defeat.The Brazilian real slid more than 10% against the U.S. dollar while the country’s benchmark stock index fell nearly 17%, which would mark a record daily loss. The index’s plunge triggered a circuit breaker, leading Brazil’s stock-exchange operator to temporarily halt trading.Global investors had piled into Brazilian markets in recent weeks after Flávio Bolsonaro—the eldest son of former President...

Thousands of Lula's supporters have spilled out onto the streets of São Paulo, celebrating his win - here are the latest pictures from the scene.Lula has been addressing his supporters in São Paulo and thanking them for their support, which he said made it possible for him to recover from his defeat in the first round of the election to go on to win in the run-off.

Well, this is breaking news, and I wanted you all to know what's going on, as the votes in Brazil's presidential runoff may not be counted before I pass out tonight. The Brazilian Supreme Court has granted President Lula's request to keep polling places open for an additional two hours this evening.

Breaking: Brazil's incumbent left-wing president Lula will win re-election after beating Bolsonaro, according to Grupo Folha projection

Brazilians are going to the polls on Sunday in a highly unpredictable runoff in which the leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is attempting an unprecedented comeback against the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who won the first-round vote. Bolsonaro’s surprise victory despite not leading most polls made him the favourite three weeks ago, but since then Lula’s campaign has gained ground, and the two go into the contest virtually tied. The gap between them was the narrowest ever recorded in a first round, at less than 2% of the vote, and the 80-year-old president has spent much of the...

Final results from Brazil’s Sunday general elections confirmed this week that right-wing parties will hold a majority in the Lower House that, together with the majority in the Senate, will grant them control of both chambers of Congress once they take office next year. Brazilian conservative and right-wing parties, spearheaded by the Liberal Party (PL) led by Senator and presidential front-running candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, secured their best electoral performance in four decades during Sunday’s general elections. The results also automatically triggered an upcoming October 25 presidential runoff between Bolsonaro of the PL party and current incumbent socialist President Luiz Inácio...

Millions of Brazilians will vote Sunday in an election dominated by two rivals: incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted in a failed coup attempt after he lost to Lula four years ago. Twelve candidates are on the presidential ballot, but only Lula and Bolsonaro are thought to have a real chance of becoming Brazil’s next head of state. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two advance to a runoff Oct. 25. Lula, who at 80 is one of the world’s...