RIO DE JANEIRO: The United States has a Jair Bolsonaro problem.
The far-right former Brazilian president flew to Florida two days before his term ends on January 1, after contesting the October 30 election he lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But Bolsonaro left behind a violent movement of Holocaust denier supporters, who stormed Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court on Sunday.
After watching former US leader Donald Trump’s supporters storm the US Capitol two years ago, Democratic President Joe Biden is now facing growing pressure to remove Bolsonaro from his self-imposed exile in suburban Orlando. .
“Bolsonaro shouldn’t be in Florida,” Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro told CNN. “The United States should not be a haven for this authoritarian who inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.
Castro said Bolsonaro, a Trump acolyte now based in the former president’s home state, “used Trump’s book to inspire domestic terrorists.”
Fellow Democrat in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, echoed those views.
“The United States must stop granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida,” she tweeted on Sunday. “Nearly two years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad trying to do the same in Brazil.”
big decision
Their comments ratchet up the pressure on Bolsonaro and highlight Washington’s big decision regarding his future.
Bolsonaro had a rocky relationship with Biden and was already on weaker ground at home in Brazil after losing broad protections from lawsuits when he resigned as president. These investigations could lead to his arrest or bar him from running for office, Reuters reported last week.
John Feeley, who was US ambassador to Panama from 2016 to 2018 when the Central American nation sought the extradition of its former president Ricardo Martinelli, said the most immediate threat to Bolsonaro would come if his US visa was revoked.
“The United States — or any sovereign nation for that matter — can deport an alien, even one who entered legally on a visa, for any reason,” Feeley said. “It is a purely sovereign decision for which no legal justification is required.”
A US consular official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bolsonaro almost certainly entered on an A-1 visa, which is reserved for heads of state. A second source, a former high-ranking US diplomat, also said it was almost certain Bolsonaro entered on an A-1.
Normally, the A-1 is canceled after the recipient leaves. But as Bolsonaro left Brazil and entered the United States before the end of his term, the official suspected his A-1 was still active.
The official, who has experience canceling visas for former heads of state, said there is no time limit on how long a person can stay in the US with an A-1.
“We are in uncharted territory,” the official said. “Who knows how long he will stay?
A State Department spokesperson said “Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”
Baseless allegations
Bolsonaro may be in no rush to return to Brazil, where he is accused of being behind a violent campaign of election denial with baseless claims of voter fraud.
Lula, who had already pledged to prosecute Bolsonaro if necessary during his January 1 inauguration speech, on Sunday accused his predecessor of being responsible for the invasion.
“This genocidaire (…) is encouraging this through social media from Miami,” Lula said. “Everyone knows there are several speeches from the ex-president encouraging this.”
In a tweet on Sunday, Bolsonaro dismissed Lula’s accusations and said the invasion had crossed the line of peaceful protest.
Bolsonaro was already under investigation in four Supreme Court criminal probes before stepping down as president.
Following Sunday’s invasion, legal experts said he could be the target of a Supreme Court investigation, led by crusading Justice Alexandre de Moraes, into anti-democratic protests, which has already been successful to several arrests.
If Moraes were to sign an arrest warrant while Bolsonaro is in the United States, the former president would technically be required to return to Brazil and turn himself in to the police. If he refused, Brazil could issue an Interpol red notice to induce his arrest by US federal agents.
If he is detained on American soil, then Brazil should formally request his extradition. Bolsonaro would be free to appeal to US courts, or he could attempt to seek asylum, although that offers no guarantee of preventing his eventual return to Brazil.
Former Panamanian President Martinelli was extradited from the United States to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama’s Supreme Court issued its arrest warrant.
The far-right former Brazilian president flew to Florida two days before his term ends on January 1, after contesting the October 30 election he lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But Bolsonaro left behind a violent movement of Holocaust denier supporters, who stormed Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court on Sunday.
After watching former US leader Donald Trump’s supporters storm the US Capitol two years ago, Democratic President Joe Biden is now facing growing pressure to remove Bolsonaro from his self-imposed exile in suburban Orlando. .
“Bolsonaro shouldn’t be in Florida,” Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro told CNN. “The United States should not be a haven for this authoritarian who inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.
Castro said Bolsonaro, a Trump acolyte now based in the former president’s home state, “used Trump’s book to inspire domestic terrorists.”
Fellow Democrat in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, echoed those views.
“The United States must stop granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida,” she tweeted on Sunday. “Nearly two years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad trying to do the same in Brazil.”
big decision
Their comments ratchet up the pressure on Bolsonaro and highlight Washington’s big decision regarding his future.
Bolsonaro had a rocky relationship with Biden and was already on weaker ground at home in Brazil after losing broad protections from lawsuits when he resigned as president. These investigations could lead to his arrest or bar him from running for office, Reuters reported last week.
John Feeley, who was US ambassador to Panama from 2016 to 2018 when the Central American nation sought the extradition of its former president Ricardo Martinelli, said the most immediate threat to Bolsonaro would come if his US visa was revoked.
“The United States — or any sovereign nation for that matter — can deport an alien, even one who entered legally on a visa, for any reason,” Feeley said. “It is a purely sovereign decision for which no legal justification is required.”
A US consular official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bolsonaro almost certainly entered on an A-1 visa, which is reserved for heads of state. A second source, a former high-ranking US diplomat, also said it was almost certain Bolsonaro entered on an A-1.
Normally, the A-1 is canceled after the recipient leaves. But as Bolsonaro left Brazil and entered the United States before the end of his term, the official suspected his A-1 was still active.
The official, who has experience canceling visas for former heads of state, said there is no time limit on how long a person can stay in the US with an A-1.
“We are in uncharted territory,” the official said. “Who knows how long he will stay?
A State Department spokesperson said “Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”
Baseless allegations
Bolsonaro may be in no rush to return to Brazil, where he is accused of being behind a violent campaign of election denial with baseless claims of voter fraud.
Lula, who had already pledged to prosecute Bolsonaro if necessary during his January 1 inauguration speech, on Sunday accused his predecessor of being responsible for the invasion.
“This genocidaire (…) is encouraging this through social media from Miami,” Lula said. “Everyone knows there are several speeches from the ex-president encouraging this.”
In a tweet on Sunday, Bolsonaro dismissed Lula’s accusations and said the invasion had crossed the line of peaceful protest.
Bolsonaro was already under investigation in four Supreme Court criminal probes before stepping down as president.
Following Sunday’s invasion, legal experts said he could be the target of a Supreme Court investigation, led by crusading Justice Alexandre de Moraes, into anti-democratic protests, which has already been successful to several arrests.
If Moraes were to sign an arrest warrant while Bolsonaro is in the United States, the former president would technically be required to return to Brazil and turn himself in to the police. If he refused, Brazil could issue an Interpol red notice to induce his arrest by US federal agents.
If he is detained on American soil, then Brazil should formally request his extradition. Bolsonaro would be free to appeal to US courts, or he could attempt to seek asylum, although that offers no guarantee of preventing his eventual return to Brazil.
Former Panamanian President Martinelli was extradited from the United States to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama’s Supreme Court issued its arrest warrant.
