Former President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that he intends to return to Brazil “in the coming weeks.”
It is the first time that Bolsonaro has made a public statement about his return. The right-wing politician is in the United States after his arrival in Orlando, Florida, on December 31, a day before his leftist rival Luis Inácio Lula da Silva ascended to the presidency.
Saturday’s event at an evangelical church in Florida was entirely in Portuguese for a Brazilian crowd of Bolsonaro supporters living abroad, and was organized by the right-wing collective Yes Brazil USES. The ex-president was acclaimed throughout the event.
Bolsonaro’s possible return to Brazil has raised speculation in recent weeks about the date on which he would do so, although various investigations related to possible illegal behavior weigh on him.
Bolsonaro entered the United States on a one-month diplomatic visa that expired on January 31. He was accompanied by his wife and a team of presidential advisers, all of whom left Florida last month.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers recently told the Brazilian press that they had processed a tourist visa for the former president to extend his stay in the United States.
Amid speculation about Bolsonaro’s plans, one of his sons, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, told the Brazilian press that he did not know when his father could return.
“It could be tomorrow, in six months, maybe never. Don’t know. She is resting,” she added.
For the first time in his political career of more than three decades as a legislator and later as president, Bolsonaro no longer enjoys the special legal protection under which he could only be tried by the Federal Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro is subject to four investigations, which had been in the highest court but were already sent to an ordinary court last week.
One of the investigations is to determine whether Bolsonaro had any role in inciting the riots on January 8, in which his supporters raided government offices in Brasilia to demand the annulment of their electoral defeat to Lula.
Investigators are also looking to determine who organized and financed the massive gathering of Bolsonaro supporters who came to the capital from various parts of Brazil.
One of the investigations of the Brazilian justice is to determine who was responsible for inciting the crimes, and who paid people to travel to Brasilia.
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