A hearing on Brazil in the US Congress turned into a confrontation between Bolsonaro supporters and allies, who claim to suffer persecution and censorship, and Democrats, who see parallels in the accusations with former President Donald Trump's discourse and supporters.
Three out of four people heard alleged violations of freedom of expression committed by Brazilian authorities, especially by Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court: former Jovem Pan presenter Paulo Figueiredo, CEO of the conservative social network Rumble, Chris Pavlovski, and American journalist Michael Shellenberger, who disclosed Twitter archives related to Brazil.
The fourth member of the panel, appointed by Democrats, was the professor of Brazilian studies at the University of Oklahoma, Fábio de Sá e Silva, who rebutted accusations and included in the debate threats attributed to former President Jair Bolsonaro, citing ongoing investigations into the coup plot to overturn the 2022 election defeat.
At one point, the academic showed a photo of journalist Vladimir Herzog, tortured and killed by the military regime. "This is what happened to Brazilian journalists during the dictatorship."