By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 19, 2025 | A story out of Brazil this week bears a striking similarity to events in the United States, giving us an inkling of hope.
The story was out of Brasilia, Brazil’s capitol, reporting that the nation’s Supreme Court had convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of overseeing a failed conspiracy to overturn the 2022 Brazil election in a coup. The plot sought to disband courts, empower the military and assassinate the president-elect.
The conviction came from four of five justices of the Supreme Court. The court also convicted seven co-conspirators including his running mate, defense minister and Navy commander.
As a result of the conviction, Mr. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
Yes, this was in a South American democracy, but what has been going on politically in Brazil had a strikingly similar tone to what has been happening in our country since President Trump arrived on the scene.
Coups in Brazil have been almost a tradition. The county has weathered 15 coups and attempts since Brazil overthrew its monarchy in 1889. But this is the first time a leader of a coup has been convicted by their courts.
Much like Donald Trump, Bolsonaro was a product of the right wing, indeed its leader, guiding the country into a more polarized right wing government. He served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro got heavy support from President Trump, seeing him as an ally in moving a nation to the far right. Trump thought Bolsonaro was being persecuted in trying to reverse a rigged election. Sound familiar?
Our American president even threatened Brazil to drop the case, or see enforced steep tariffs! Sticking his fingers even more into international politics, Mr. Trump threatened sanctions against the chief Brazilian justice leading the case against Mr. Bolsonaro.
We must admit there seems to be no end to the ways Donald Trump can complicate matters, not only here, but in many foreign lands. Americans have never acted in such ways. It is obvious that Mr. Trump has never grasped the American tradition of being diplomatic or even tolerable of other country’s borders.
Even after the court’s decision convicting Bolsonaro, President Trump kept at it, saying he disapproved of the decision. Will he never learn?
The coup, as concocted by Mr. Bolsonaro, would have been quick and sweeping. He would have, first as Mr. Trump has often done, declare a state of emergency. Following, he would have dissolved the Supreme Court, annulled the election result, and given the military sweeping powers.
Can you believe such? Outright disarray and elimination of any sliver of democracy!
To think that such tactics in any democracy would be proposed is to make a mockery of constitutional self rule.
Yet if it can be conceived in Brazil, are there people in the United States who might also want to take such a route?
Finally, the people of Brazil saw the light of day, and convicted a brazen attempt at destroying democracy in their country.
With all the continued antics of the Trump Administration, we hope Americans are beginning to see the light, and will make moves in the 2026 election to turn out some members of Congress and bring our country back to a more centrist direction.
- Have a comment? Click here to send an email.
