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Biden’s SEC is ready to regulate cryptocurrency

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Cryptocurrency has an SEC problem — and it just got bigger.
The Biden administration is taking a more hands-on approach to the highly volatile, little understood, and barely regulated cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital currencies secured by blockchain technology. Bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have become almost as accessible as government-issued currency in recent years, but the government offers few consumer protections for them.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — led by Gary Gensler, who taught a class on cryptocurrency at MIT — is trying to make the case that it can and will regulate whatever cryptocurrency investment schemes it decides fall under its purview. The relative newness and rapid expansion of the cryptocurrency industry have put it in a <a href="https://www.financialexecutives.org/FEI-Daily/April-2019/Taxing-Cryptocurrency-What-you-Need-to-Know.aspx">regulatory gray area</a>. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/virtual-currencies">classifies</a> crypto as property. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/oceo_bitcoinbasics0218.pdf">considers</a> crypto to be a commodity. And the SEC <a href="https://www.sec.gov/finhub">has said</a> that digital assets “may be securities, depending on the facts and circumstances.” A security is a financial asset that can be traded, like stocks and bonds, and which is governed by <a href="https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/role-sec/laws-govern-securities-industry">several laws</a> designed to prevent fraud and protect investors.
The SEC appears to have decided that an upcoming offering from Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, meets its definition of a security. And it’s showing that it will step in and regulate it accordingly — and, by extension, regulate the rest of the crypto finance industry more assertively.
Cryptocurrency exchanges allow people to buy and sell crypto. Coinbase is one of the biggest in the world and recently <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22383757/bitcoin-coinbase-ipo-crypto-ethereum-cryptocurrency">went public</a>. It was planning to launch a program called <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/lend">Lend</a>, which would allow investors to let others borrow from them a form of crypto called USDC, a “stablecoin” whose value is tied to the value of the US dollar (one USDC is always supposed to equal and be traded for the value of one US dollar). In exchange, lenders would receive 4 percent interest on the loan — a far higher rate than traditional banks currently offer on their savings accounts. This could have made the Coinbase Lend offering very attractive to consumers who wouldn’t have otherwise risked investing in crypto.
That’s where the SEC stepped in, according to Coinbase. The company <a href="https://blog.coinbase.com/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009">announced on Wednesday</a> (or late Tuesday, if you count a <a href="https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1435439291715358721">Twitter thread</a> from CEO Brian Armstrong) that the SEC threatened to sue the company if it launched Lend, but that the agency wouldn’t tell Coinbase why it considered Lend to be a security, except that it was doing so “through the prism of decades-old Supreme Court cases.” These cases, informally known as Howey and Reves, are the prism through which <a href="https://securities-law-blog.com/2014/11/25/what-is-a-security-the-howey-test-and-reves-test/">every potential security is considered</a>, including <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/04/27/analysis-of-secs-current-position-on-digital-assets/">crypto</a> services. Coinbase said it wanted formal guidance from the SEC on how it was using those cases to determine if Lend was a security, but the SEC wouldn’t provide it.
The SEC has not officially commented yet, though some people think this tweet qualifies as a response.
The people behind Coinbase might be (or at least claim to be) clueless, but the SEC almost certainly knows what it’s doing here: asserting its regulatory control over the world of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/us/politics/cryptocurrency-banking-regulation.html">cryptocurrency banking and finance</a>. And it’s doing so with a pugnaciousness not typical of the agency, according to anonymous former SEC officials <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-08/coinbase-threat-shows-there-s-a-new-sheriff-in-town-on-crypto">who spoke to Bloomberg</a>.
“The announcement that the SEC is investigating Coinbase’s Lend program is consistent with regulators’ ongoing aggression regarding crypto,” George Monaghan, an analyst with market intelligence firm GlobalData, told Recode.
As the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/us/politics/cryptocurrency-explainer.html">New York Times recently explained</a>, cryptocurrency is moving into the banking sector, offering services that are usually reserved for traditional banks, whose services are backed by government-issued currency (the dollar, for example) and have operated under consumer protection laws and regulations that go back decades. For example, some crypto companies now offer interest-bearing crypto accounts, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/visa-says-crypto-linked-card-usage-tops-1-billion-in-first-half-of-2021.html">debit cards, and credit cards</a> with cryptocurrency rewards
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called these “shadow banks,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/business/dealbook/crypto-bitcoin-regulation.html">noting</a> they aren’t federally insured and could be more susceptible to hacks and fraud than traditional banks. She’s written to Gensler about her concerns, and, in <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/gensler_response_to_warren_-_cryptocurrency_exchanges.pdf">his August 5 response</a>, the SEC chair agreed that “investors using these platforms are not adequately protected.” He also said there were certain activities that the SEC can regulate, and that he believed lawmakers should prioritize legislation that addressed crypto trading and lending.
The SEC has previously shown an interest in cracking down on crypto. It launched a <a href="https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/sec-launches-finhub-new-resource-public-engagement-fintech-matters">crypto regulation initiative</a> in 2018, which became a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/finhub">standalone office</a> within the agency last December. And it <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-172">recently charged</a> another crypto lending platform, BitConnect, with $2 billion in fraud for operating what the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/director-and-promoter-bitconnect-pleads-guilty-global-2-billion-cryptocurrency-scheme">called</a> a “textbook Ponzi scheme.” Another crypto company, BlockFi, which offers loans and high-interest deposit accounts backed by crypto and a credit card with a crypto rewards program, has been the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/us/politics/cryptocurrency-banking-regulation.html">subject of investigations</a> from several state-level security regulators.
But Coinbase is bigger and more high-profile than those companies. GlobalData’s Monaghan didn’t expect the fallout to be significant for Coinbase itself, as the Lend program wasn’t yet active. But the SEC’s interest in Coinbase is a sign to every crypto finance company that there are still rules they have to follow, and they should expect consequences if they don’t.
Those rules might be bulked up in the near future as the Biden administration and lawmakers work to address the regulatory gaps cryptocurrency falls into. Biden’s proposed 2022 budget <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/05/28/bidens-2022-budget-includes-new-crypto-reporting-proposals/">included crypto reporting requirements</a>, the IRS is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/irs-new-rules-on-bitcoin-ethereum-dogecoin-trading.html">cracking down</a>, and crypto regulations even became a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/25/22641375/cryptocurrency-infrastructure-irs-tax-developers-miners-bitcoin">temporary sticking point</a> in the passage of the infrastructure bill. Adding to this — or perhaps exacerbating it — is concern over how cryptocurrency can be used to facilitate criminal activities; ransomware attacks <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22527272/ransomware-cyberattacks-bitcoin-explained">often demand</a> payment in bitcoin due to the difficulty in tracing those payments.
Crypto regulations are coming. The question now is whether the slow process of creating rules and passing laws will be able to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency.
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source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22663312/coinbase-sec-cryptocurrency-bitcoin">https://www.vox.com/recode/22663312/coinbase-sec-cryptocurrency-bitcoin</a>

vox Biden’s SEC is ready to regulate cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency has an SEC problem — and it just got bigger. The Biden administration is taking a more hands-on approach to the highly vola...

Taliban Takeover Sparks Fear For Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage Sites

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Taliban Takeover Sparks Fear For Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage Sites" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/66059p14_bamiyan-buddhas-afghanistan-reuters_625x300_19_August_21.jpg" title="Taliban Takeover Sparks Fear For Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage Sites" /></div>
Taliban desecrated Bamiyan's cultural centre by dynamiting ancient statues of Buddha.
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Islamabad:
Bamiyan's cultural centre should have been completed last month, showcasing the remarkable heritage of a site that Afghanistan's Taliban desecrated two decades ago by dynamiting ancient statues of Buddha.
But the red carpet celebrations will have to wait. After the Taliban swept triumphantly into the capital Kabul, everything was put on hold.
"Everything is suspended," said Philippe Delanghe, from UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency, who said they are awaiting the decisions of the new regime.
Afghanistan once stood on the legendary Silk Road trade route, a crossroads of ancient civilisations.
Now in the hands of the hardline Islamist Taliban, there are fears its heritage is at risk.
In March 2001, the Taliban spent weeks using dynamite and artillery to blow up two giant 1,500-year old statues of Buddha, carved into a cliff at Bamiyan, some 175 kilometres (78 miles) west of Kabul.
Many consider the wanton destruction to be among the world's worst cultural crimes.
It was an act that brought the Islamist's radical ideology to global attention, just a few months before Al-Qaeda -- who the Taliban hosted in Afghanistan -- carried out the devastating 9/11 attacks on America.
"We judge by history, and 20 years ago there were terrible results," Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO's assistant director general for culture, told AFP.
Crossroads of civilisations
In February, the Taliban said that Afghanistan's relics were part of the country's "history, identity and rich culture" and that "all have an obligation to robustly protect, monitor and preserve these artefacts".
Among Afghanistan's top sites are the Buddhist shrines at Mes Aynak, and the 12th-century Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
But since seizing power, the Taliban have said nothing more.
There are worrying signs. In mid-August, residents in Bamiyan accused the Taliban of blowing up a statue honouring a Hazara leader -- an ethnic group persecuted by the Islamists -- who they had killed in the 1990s.
AFP could not confirm the reports, but social media images appeared to show a decapitated statue.
Philippe Marquis, director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA), told AFP he remains cautious about what will happen.
"We have no declarations saying: 'We are going to destroy everything or erase everything from the non-Islamic past'", he said.
Since 2016, it has become a war crime to destroy cultural heritage sites.
'Great concern'
Many are worried for the National Museum in Kabul, which survived being ransacked both during the 1992-1996 civil war that followed the Soviet military withdrawal, as well as under the Taliban's first regime, from 1996-2001.
Some feared the prospect of mass looting, as happened following conflict in Iraq and Syria, where extremist fighters raised funds by selling ancient artefacts on the black market.
However, the Taliban's seizure of Kabul was achieved with barely a shot being fired, and the museum appears to have emerged unscathed.
Only a third of the thousands of priceless objects in Kabul's museum have been catalogued.
Kabul museum director Mohammad Fahim Rahimi told the New York Times last month the Taliban had promised their protection.
But he added he still has "great concern for the safety of our staff and our collection".
'Smashed into pieces'
International funding for cultural protection has also been suspended, and it is not clear when it would resume.
"We are holding our breath," Marquis said. "But I hope that soon we will be able to breathe a little lighter."
Many Afghans who were working to protect cultural heritage have fled abroad, or are in hiding and too scared to speak out.
Those who do have warned that the Taliban promises of protection are empty rhetoric to win international support.
"As illiterate extremists, they are proud to destroy non-Muslim monuments," said Mustafa, a former UNESCO employee at Bamiyan, now a refugee in Germany.
An official who worked for the Bamiyan government said Taliban fighters smashed instruments and art objects belonging to the culture department after seizing the province in early August.
"I was sad, but I couldn't protest," the official said.
"I had no guarantee that they weren't going to accuse me... of idolatry and turn their guns on me and kill me."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-sparks-fear-for-afghanistans-cultural-heritage-sites-2536014">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-sparks-fear-for-afghanistans-cultural-heritage-sites-2536014</a>

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Taliban desecrated Bamiyan's cultural centre by dynamiting ancient statues of Buddha. Islamabad: Bamiyan's cultural centre shou...

Biden's Message To China As He Holds First Call With Xi In 7 Months

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Biden's Message To China As He Holds First Call With Xi In 7 Months" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/gqagefvg_biden-xi_625x300_10_September_21.jpg" title="Biden's Message To China As He Holds First Call With Xi In 7 Months" /></div>
US President Joe Biden talked with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a phone call, White House said.
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Washington:
US President Joe Biden talked with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time in seven months Thursday, urging they ensure that "competition" between the two powers does not become "conflict," the White House said.
During the call, Biden's message was that the United States wants to ensure "the dynamic remains competitive and that we don't have any situation in the future where we veer into unintended conflict," a senior US administration official told reporters.
In Beijing, state broadcaster CCTV reported that the phone call was "candid, in-depth" and covered "extensive strategic communication and exchanges on China-US relations and issues of mutual concern," and that US policy on China has caused "serious difficulties."
This was the leaders' first call since February, when they talked for two hours, shortly after Biden took over from Donald Trump. The Biden administration official said the latest call lasted 90 minutes.
US-China relations went into a nosedive under Trump, who launched a trade war between the world's number one and two economies. Biden's administration, while urging multilateralism and an end to Trump's "America first" ideology, has kept trade tariffs in place and remains tough on other contentious areas of the relationship with Beijing.
However, the White House signaled that the diplomatic impasse is unsustainable and potentially dangerous, requiring intervention by the leaders in Thursday's call.
"We welcome stiff competition but we don't want that competition to veer into conflict," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
The goal of the call was to set out "guardrails" so that the relationship can be "managed responsibly."
These guardrails included making sure that US actions are not "misinterpreted" by China, the official said.
Lower level attempts to engage with China have not gone well, especially at an angry March exchange between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top Chinese officials when they met in Anchorage, Alaska.
"We have not been very satisfied with our interlocutors' behavior," the senior official told reporters.
Accusing the Chinese of being mostly "unwilling to engage in serious or substantive" talks, the official said "we don't believe that that is how responsible nations act, especially given the global importance of the US-China competition."
Faced with the impasse, "President Biden understood the importance of engaging President Xi directly," the official said.
According to a readout from the White House after the call, Biden and Xi had a "discussed areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge."
No 'breakthroughs'
Thursday's call focused on "broad and strategic" issues, with no concrete decisions expected on outstanding issues or setting up a first Biden-Xi summit, the official said.
The list of disagreements between Washington and Beijing is long and growing.
Beyond trade, with the White House official complaining of "China's unfair and coercive trade practices," there is deepening tension over China's claims to Taiwan and numerous islands in the South China Sea.
Washington is also angered by what it says is China's refusal to cooperate with an international probe into the origins of the Covid-19 virus, which first broke out in China before sweeping worldwide.
There are areas where the two powers also find themselves having to cooperate or at least coordinate, including on North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the climate crisis.
The White House said that Biden and Xi discussed the Covid pandemic and climate, among other global topics. Biden also brought up concerns about Chinese cyber attacks against the United States.
But Thursday's call was "not about finding some sort of breakthrough agreements," the senior official said.
It was "about keeping the channels of communication open" and ending previous cycles where the relationship blew hot and cold.
"Our goal is, is to really reach a steady state of affairs between the United States and China," the official said.
Biden, who built a close relationship with Xi while serving as vice president under Barack Obama, clearly has belief in his powers of personal contact when it comes to diplomacy.
The senior US official said the two leaders spent some talking about past shared experiences and that the tone was "respectful" and "candid," without "lecturing."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/joe-biden-xi-jinping-hold-first-phone-call-in-7-months-white-house-2536009">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/joe-biden-xi-jinping-hold-first-phone-call-in-7-months-white-house-2536009</a>

news world Biden's Message To China As He Holds First Call With Xi In 7 Months

US President Joe Biden talked with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a phone call, White House said. Washington: US President Joe Biden...

"Duty Towards Afghans": UN Chief Calls For "Dialogue" With Taliban

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'Duty Towards Afghans': UN Chief Calls For 'Dialogue' With Taliban" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/9436lki_un-chief-antonio-guterres-650_625x300_17_August_21.jpg" title="'Duty Towards Afghans': UN Chief Calls For 'Dialogue' With Taliban" /></div>
UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world must avoid an "economic collapse" in Afghanistan. (File)
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United Nations:
UN chief Antonio Guterres pleaded for nations to continue dialogue with the Taliban, during an interview with AFP Thursday, as he expressed fears that the hardline Islamists' return to power in Afghanistan could embolden jihadists in the Sahel.
"We must maintain a dialogue with the Taliban, where we affirm our principles directly -- a dialogue with a feeling of solidarity with the Afghan people," he said.
"Our duty is to extend our solidarity to a people who suffer greatly, where millions and millions risk dying of hunger," added the secretary-general.
Guterres said that the world must avoid an "economic collapse" in Afghanistan.
Without calling for the lifting of international sanctions or the release of Afghan funds frozen around the world, the UN head predicted that "financial instruments" would allow Afghanistan's economy "to breathe."
Guterres said there were "no guarantees" about what might come out of talks but that discussions are a must "if we want Afghanistan not to be a center of terrorism, if we want women and girls to not lose all the rights acquired during the previous period, if we want different ethnic groups to be able to feel represented."
"Until now, in the discussions that we have had, there is at least a receptivity to talk," added Guterres, who does not rule out going to Afghanistan one day if conditions are right.
What the UN wishes is "an inclusive government," where all components of Afghan society are represented, and "this first preliminary government" announced a few days ago "does not give that impression," he added, regretfully.
He said Afghanistan must be governed "in peace and stability, with the rights of the people respected."
Guterres added that the Taliban wants recognition, financial support and sanctions to be abolished.
"That gives a certain leverage to the international community," he said.
Asked about the risks of an Afghanistan-like scenario occurring in the Sahel, the secretary-general said he feared the "psychological and real impact" of what happened in recent weeks.
"There is a real danger. (Some) terrorist groups may feel enthusiastic about what happened and have ambitions beyond what they thought a few months ago," he warned.
He said he was worried about fanatical groups where death "is desirable," with armies "disintegrating in front of" these types of fighters.
"We saw this in Mosul in Iraq, in Mali during the first push towards Bamako, we saw it in Mozambique."
He said it was "essential to reinforce security mechanisms in the Sahel."
Counterterrorism force for Africa
"It is not only Mali, Burkina or Niger. Now we have infiltrations in Ivory Coast, in Ghana," Guterres added.
He noted that France will reduce its presence in the region and cited news reports that said Chad wants to withdraw some troops from border areas around Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
"I fear today that the response capacity of the international community and the countries of the region are not sufficient in the face of the threat," he lamented.
"This is the reason why I am fighting for there to be an African counterterrorism force with a mandate under chapter seven (which provides for the use of force) of the Security Council and with dedicated funds, which can guarantee a response to the threat level," he added.
The UN chief has been trying for several years to give the G5 Sahel force -- Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso -- a UN mandate accompanied by collective funding from the world body.
France supports Guterres but the UN's leading financial contributor, the United States, has rejected the move.
"This blocking must be ended. It is absolutely essential," said the secretary-general.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/un-chief-antonio-guterres-duty-towards-afghans-un-chief-calls-for-dialogue-with-taliban-2536004">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/un-chief-antonio-guterres-duty-towards-afghans-un-chief-calls-for-dialogue-with-taliban-2536004</a>

news world "Duty Towards Afghans": UN Chief Calls For "Dialogue" With Taliban

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world must avoid an "economic collapse" in Afghanistan. (File) United Nations: UN chief An...

Interim Taliban Government Doesn't Reflect What We "Hoped To See": US

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Interim Taliban Government Doesn't Reflect What We 'Hoped To See': US" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/775ol53o_taliban-generic-afp_625x300_08_September_21.jpg" title="Interim Taliban Government Doesn't Reflect What We 'Hoped To See': US" /></div>
Taliban Takeover: US said that they note this is an initial caretaker government.
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Washington:
The interim Taliban government does not reflect what the international community and the United States hoped to see, the Biden Administration said on Thursday.
"We have spoken about our reaction to the initial caretaker government. You have heard us say that the lack of inclusivity, the track records, the backgrounds of some of the individuals involved, are a cause for concern. It certainly does not reflect what the international community and what, as a part of that, the United States hoped to see," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his news conference.
"Now, we note this is an initial caretaker government. We note that some of these positions remain unfulfilled. So what will be important to us is not only the composition of any future government of Afghanistan...again, we will look to see to it that it is inclusive, to see to it that it is representative of the people that the Taliban purport to represent," he said.
The US also look towards their actions, and that was another constant refrain when US and its closest allies and partners met in Ramstein, Germany.
“There were several elements of consensus that emerged, and in fact, there were key questions that many of the participants posed: Will the Taliban uphold their commitments to freedom of travel and safe passage -- in the case of the United States for Americans, but also for third-country nationals, for our Afghan partners? Will they live up to their counterterrorism commitments?” he said.
“There was a broad discussion of the threat from ISIS-K, from al-Qaida, from terrorist groups that may seek to operate or that are operating on Afghan soil. Will they form an inclusive government? That will be a key question that we'll look to see as the future Afghan government comes together. And will they sustain progress for women and girls? In other words, will the gains of the past 20 years that no country did more to facilitate and support than the United States, will those gains be preserved?” he asked.
Answers to those questions remain unanswered, he said. “We will together be able to answer those questions with our allies and partners as we start to see how the Taliban is going to purport to govern, how it will treat its people, how it will treat our people, how it will confront threats not only to the Taliban but threats to us as well, and that includes from ISIS-K,” Price said.
The United States and the international community, he said, will continue to hold the Taliban to account for its public and private commitments, the commitments it has made in private that those with valid travel documents who wish to leave the country will be able to do so.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken hosted a ministerial meeting along with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany on Wednesday, and this was a topic of discussion, he said.
Among the consistent themes they heard from the more than 20 countries and organisations that took part was the need to work collectively, using every tool at their disposal, to hold the Taliban responsible for those commitments.
"Of course, we would like to see more such flights, flights similar to the one that took off today. We have heard public statements that more, in fact, may be forthcoming. But obviously, we don't want to prejudge that, and we will continue to do everything we can together with our partners to work towards that goal,” he said, referring to an evacuation flight.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/interim-taliban-govt-does-not-reflect-what-international-community-hoped-to-see-us-2535976">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/interim-taliban-govt-does-not-reflect-what-international-community-hoped-to-see-us-2535976</a>

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Taliban Takeover: US said that they note this is an initial caretaker government. Washington: The interim Taliban government does not r...

Jair Bolsonaro Backs Off Attacks On Brazil's Institutions

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Jair Bolsonaro Backs Off Attacks On Brazil's Institutions" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-07/qck12e3o_brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-coviidpositive_625x300_07_July_20.jpg" title="Jair Bolsonaro Backs Off Attacks On Brazil's Institutions" /></div>
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Braslia, Brazil:
President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday backed off his heated attacks on Brazil's federal institutions, insisting that his recent jabs at the Supreme Court just came "in the heat of the moment."
"My words, sometimes forceful, were spoken in the heat of the moment," the far-right president said in a written statement after talking tough Tuesday to supporters at an Independence Day rally in Sao Paulo.
Bolsonaro -- who has been squaring off publicly with the high court for weeks since it opened investigations against him and those around him -- took a menacing tone at the rally.
"We do not want to fight with any power. But (...) we cannot allow a person to put our freedom at risk," said Bolsonaro, a clear reference to judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is handling his case.
"Either the head of the (high court) puts (this judge) in his place, or else this power will suffer the consequences that nobody wants," he said.
Some 125,000 Bolsonaro supporters rallied in Sao Paulo, police said, a packed rally but far short of the two million the president had hoped to gather.
In his written statement Thursday Bolsonaro assured that he never had "any intention of attacking" any government institution.
"I reiterate my respect for the institutions of the Republic, the driving forces that help govern the country," he wrote.
This is typical Bolsonaro tactic, said Michael Mohallem, a law professor at the Universidad Catolica de Rio de Janeiro.
"He pushes to the limit, then backs down," Mohallem said.
"But he only backs off temporarily. Everything indicates that this will happen again ... It's very probable that in the next days his attacks against the Supreme Court will continue."
Mohallem said the goal of Bolsonaro's letter is to negotiate with the legislature "and not be impeached," given that some parties have raised that possibility again.
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news world Jair Bolsonaro Backs Off Attacks On Brazil's Institutions

Braslia, Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday backed off his heated attacks on Brazil's federal institutions, insisting that...