Brazil’s Supreme Court banned Bolsonaro from traveling to the United States to attend Trump’s inauguration
The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF) This Thursday he denied a request from the former president Jair Bolsonaro to temporarily restore your passport so that he could attend the inauguration in Washington of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, next week.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, whom Bolsonaro has frequently called his personal enemy, indicated in the ruling that Bolsonaro does not currently hold any position that would allow him to represent Brazil at the event and that the retired soldier did not adequately demonstrate before the court that he had been invited.
The authorities confiscated Bolsonaro’s passport last Februarywho is the subject of several investigations, because he was considered a flight risk.
Bolsonaro requested permission to leave the country from January 17 to 22 to attend the inauguration ceremony on January 20 and a Hispanic inaugural ball. Bolsonaro, an outspoken admirer of Trump, said on his social media on Jan. 8 that he was “very happy with this invitation.”
“I will be representing the conservatives, the right, the good, the Brazilian people there in the United States, God willing,” Bolsonaro said.
The presence of other leaders of the world right, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or Argentine President Javier Milei, is confirmed at the ceremony in Washington.
When De Moraes asked Bolsonaro’s lawyers proof of your invitation On Saturday, they sent a letter of invitation signed by inaugural committee co-chairs Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler.
However, De Moraes argued that Bolsonaro had not adequately demonstrated that he had been invited. In sentencing, de Moraes followed the recommendation of Attorney General Paulo Gonet, who said Wednesday that Bolsonaro could not argue that his private interest in the trip outweighed the public interest in his ban on foreign travel.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will not attend Trump’s inauguration.
Judge De Moraes, who is handling the case against Bolsonaro for his alleged involvement in a plot to keep him in power after the 2022 elections, has also based his decision on the former president’s public statements in favor of “the escape of the convicted.” in the process.”
The decision also comes shortly after the Prosecutor’s Office expressed its disagreement with Bolsonaro’s request, since it seeks to subordinate the general interest to a particular demand. “The intended trip is intended to satisfy the private interest of the applicant (…) There is no evidence, in the written application, that the trip abroad serves any vital interest, capable of overcoming the public interest that opposes it.” upon the applicant’s departure from the country”explained the attorney general, Paulo Gonet.
(With information from AP and EP)
