Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, investigated for coup plotting and disqualified, will have to follow on television or social networks the inauguration, next Monday, of his ally Donald Trump as president of the United States. The Brazilian Supreme Court this Thursday denied the far-right’s request to have his passport returned so he could travel to Washington. Judge Moraes, instructor of the investigation against Bolsonaro and who 11 months ago withdrew his passport, maintains in his decision that “the scenario on which the prohibition to leave the country was based (…) still points to the possibility of an attempt of flight to evade the application of the criminal law.” The head of the Bolsonaro clan will be represented at the ceremony by his wife, Michelle, as he himself revealed in an interview.
The former president maintains that the decision to prevent him from attending the event “is a disappointment” personally and for his followers and, in addition, “sends a worrying message about the state of democracy and justice” in Brazil, according to a note published in X.
Bolsonaro has been banned from traveling abroad and his passport has been retained as a precautionary measure since the police searched his home as part of investigations for inciting a coup d’état to subvert the result of the 2022 elections and continue in power. Last November the police formally accused him of plotting a coup along with a handful of generals and dozens of other soldiers and now the ball is in the court of the attorney general of the republic, Paulo Gonet, who must decide whether to accept the complaint or the archive. Regarding the passport, the attorney general argued on Wednesday that attending Trump’s inauguration “is not a basic, urgent and unavoidable need.”
A few months ago, Bolsonaro requested the return of his passport to accept an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Israel.
Now, Bolsonaro’s plan was to remain in Washington from this Friday until next Tuesday to participate in the ceremony that will begin the Republican’s second term and in the dances organized around the event. In addition to his wife, his son Eduardo, a congressman and liaison with the Trumps, is also scheduled to travel to the US capital, who invited him to continue with him and his closest friends on election night at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. in Florida.
The tycoon’s victory was received with euphoria by Bolsonarism, but for the head of the Brazilian opposition, judicial problems are multiplying and, for now, he will have to continue waiting to achieve the long-awaited photo with the next president of the first power. On the political level, on the other hand, it has just displayed its power and its lack of scruples through an effective misinformation campaign by managing, based on falsehoods, to sow doubts about the hitherto very successful Brazilian free and instant payment system, called Pix. Bolsonarism and its enormous network of like-minded digital influencers spuriously clung to a Government decision to intensify anti-corruption surveillance over Pix transactions and in a few days spread the lie that the transactions would be taxed. The falsehood caught on, transactions have fallen by 10%, and the Executive has backed down. You have canceled the original measure.
