The Brazilian government on Saturday condemned the “disregard for fundamental rights” of 88 Brazilians deported from the United States, who were handcuffed during the trip.
• Also read: Mexico says it is ready to cooperate with the United States to welcome its expelled citizens
• Also read: Trump administration calls for firing of officials responsible for promoting diversity
The Brazilian Ministry of Justice ordered the American authorities to “immediately remove the handcuffs” when the plane carrying the deportees landed in Manaus (north), denouncing the “blatant disregard for the fundamental rights” of its citizens, according to a press release .
A Brazilian government source stressed to AFP on Friday that there was no “direct relationship” between this expulsion and the operation against illegal immigrants, launched in the United States after the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20. .
“This flight fits into another context: a bilateral agreement between Brazil and the United States, from 2017, which remains in force,” said this source.
In the official note, the Brazilian authorities recall that “the dignity of the human person” is “one of the pillars of the democratic rule of law” and is a matter of “non-negotiable values”.
-The Federal Police (PF) said in another statement that the flight from the United States landed Friday evening with “88 Brazilians” on board.
The plane was heading to the city of Belo Horizonte (southeast), but had a technical problem and had to spend the night in Manaus, an initially planned stopover.
“The Brazilians who arrived in handcuffs were immediately released from their handcuffs,” police said, “as a guarantee of Brazilian sovereignty over the national territory.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered on Saturday that a Brazilian Air Force plane take over the transfer of the deportees to the final destination, Belo Horizonte.
Donald Trump promised during his campaign to launch “the largest deportation program in American history.” The White House boasted this week of the arrest of hundreds of “illegal criminal migrants,” stressing that they had been deported by military planes rather than civilians, as was the case previously.
