As the inauguration of President Donald Trump approaches in the United States, a world leader may not be present: Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Brazil rejected a request to the former president to return his passport, which was confiscated by the state police in February.
Bolsonaro, who led Brazil from 2019 to 2022, is facing several investigations and charges, including experiments to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election.
The former right-wing president, who has been dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics”, has denied all of his claims. But the police see him as a flight risk.
On the social network of TV X, Bolsonaro's office responded to the court's decision with displeasure, calling it evidence of “law enforcement” – a term for the use of armed legal measures.
“President Trump's invitation to Bolsonaro represents a deepening relationship between the two largest democracies in America,” the office wrote in its notes. words.
“The decision to prevent Bolsonaro from participating in this important event lowers Brazil's international standing and sends a disturbing message about democracy and justice in our country.”
The Supreme Court, however, ruled that Bolsonaro's status as an ordinary citizen – without elected office – would not require him to travel to the US for the inauguration, as officials would.
Brazil is expected to be represented at the opening by its ambassador to the US, Maria Luiza Viotti.
The judge of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, said that the decision was based on what the Attorney General of Brazil, Paulo Gonet Branco, said.
Branco indicated that there is a greater public interest in keeping Bolsonaro in Brazil than allowing him to go abroad, where he could escape justice.
De Moraes referred to Bolsonaro's previous speech, where he “also considered the possibility of fleeing and asking for political protection to avoid a possible crime in Brazil”.
Trump's inauguration on January 20 is expected to bring some prominent world leaders, including Argentine President Javier Milei and British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage.
Other expected guests include TV mogul Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser to the incoming US president.
In social media posts, the majority of Republicans on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives supported Bolsonaro after the court decision.
“Jair Bolsonaro is a fellow American and a patriot. He should be allowed to attend the inauguration of President Trump,” the Republican said. he wrote.
But Bolsonaro has been under legal scrutiny since losing the 2022 elections.
In October of that year, the leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won Bolsonaro in the second election, but Bolsonaro he refused openly admitting defeat.
He had a long time started false rumours that Brazil's electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud, even before a single vote was cast.
After his death, hundreds of his followers they flooded the streets protesting the results of the election. Bolsonaro himself he left the country in Florida before Lula's inauguration.
Shortly after, on July 8, 2023, Bolsonaro's supporters attack The Three Powers Plaza in the capital of Brasilia, destroying the buildings representing the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro has returned to Brazil. But the court decided that he he can't run stay in office until 2030, as punishment for using public resources to undermine public confidence in elections.
The former president is also subject to scrutiny fraudand he was condemned last year for spreading misinformation in the national database about the COVID-19 vaccine.
In November, the federal police also the accused Bolsonaro and his 36 allies are planning a “violent collapse of the democratic government”.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing in the cases. On Thursday, he drew parallels between his stance and Trump, who has also accused his opponents of “constitutional” politics and alleged election fraud.
Bolsonaro wrote: “The government of Lula has clearly learned from the mistakes of the United States, where the justice system helped to gain political advantage.
“But there, they didn't act quickly to destroy their political opponent, Donald Trump, and they defeated the protests. I will too.”