In an interview on Monday, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he planned to return to his country next month after leaving for Florida in December, potentially setting the stage for a legal battle in the wake of the riot in the capital this weekend, which partially destroyed the headquarters of the three branches of government.
On Monday evening, Bolsonaro announced that he is hospitalized in the more excellent Orlando, Florida region due to severe stomach discomfort. The former president’s digestive tract was severely harmed in a knife assassination attempt in September 2018, leaving him prone to severe intestinal obstructions. Since his socialist assailant, Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, brutally stabbed him, and he has had six operations.
After a massive protest led by Bolsonaro’s ardent followers on Sunday that drew hundreds, several politicians in the United States far left have called for the ex-extradition president’s home. Reportedly, Bolsonaro’s political opponents have filed dozens of lawsuits against him, seeking criminal liability for various alleged infractions, such as his opposition to civil rights restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and his apparent lack of support for environmental regulations.
On Sunday, protesters opposed Brazil’s socialist and convicted criminal President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stormed the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), and Planalto Palace. Protesters smashed the glass exteriors of the Congress and STF headquarters, and they damaged or destroyed precious items in all three buildings after pushing past police barriers. The ministers’ offices (the formal title for supreme court judges) and the rooms where cases are decided were explicitly attacked by the demonstrators, rendering the STF building utterly useless once the disturbance ended.
Protesters don’t accept Lula’s victory against Bolsonaro in October’s presidential election because they say Lula shouldn’t have been eligible to vote because he was convicted of receiving bribes while in office. Despite being convicted and sentenced to nearly 25 years in jail, the STF intervened on Lula’s behalf and overturned his conviction on jurisdictional grounds in 2021. The STF never made a case for Lula’s innocence or offered any evidence to suggest otherwise.
The rioters are a subgroup of Bolsonaro supporters who, under the current circumstances, feel the military should intervene to remove Lula from office. The fact that the army hasn’t listened to their concerns has irked many people.
Many others have also voiced their enthusiastic approval of Bolsonaro. Social media posts made from Planalto revealed that the only presidential portrait of Bolsonaro not destroyed during the riots was the official portrait. As of Tuesday, the painting of Bolsonaro has yet to be found.
Until late Sunday night, when he criticized the unrest on Twitter, Bolsonaro had mainly avoided making public pronouncements other than tweets praising his accomplishments as president. On Monday, CNN Brasil reported that it had spoken with Bolsonaro, who reportedly explained his health problems and confirmed that he expects to return to Brazil soon.
“I came to remain until the end of the month [January], but I want to return,” Bolsonaro allegedly stated upon his departure from the United States. Because the physicians in Brazil are aware of my history of intestinal blockage after the stabbing. There were no medical professionals with me when I came.
CNN It appears from the remarks published in Brasil that Bolsonaro did not frame his return to Brazil in political terms but rather as a result of a medical emergency. According to reports, Bolsonaro also complained that he had difficulty unwinding on his vacation after leaving office.
I’ve been hospitalized three times with severe intestinal blockage, and it’s become worse this time. Bolsonaro said, “I came to spend some time abroad with family, but I have not had tranquil days.” It all started with the unrest in Brazil the day before yesterday, and now I’m in the hospital.
The Italian authorities shot off claims on Tuesday that Bolsonaro had applied for Italian citizenship, suggesting that even if he had, he probably wouldn’t be granted it anyhow, adding to the mounting body of evidence indicating he plans to return to Brazil. Two of Bolsonaro’s sons petitioned for citizenship as Italians because of their father’s Italian ancestry.
On Monday, rumors started spreading that Bolsonaro had been hospitalized. Bolsonaro shared a photo to Twitter late Monday night, confirming the news.
After the knife attack in Juiz de Fora/[Minas Gerais], I underwent five operations. “Since my last one, I’ve suffered adhesions twice, each time necessitating more surgery,” Bolsonaro wrote. New adhesion and hospitalization in Orlando, USA, yesterday… I appreciate the good wishes and prayers and will be back soon.
Politicians on the far left in the United States have asked that Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, deport Bolsonaro, saying that his current location in Florida is an attempt to find asylum from the unrest in Brasilia. Democratic Representatives Joaquin Castro (TX) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) have been at the forefront of the movement to have Bolsonaro’s visit to their nation cut short.
Journalists and legal experts have openly suggested that ex-President Lula might face criminal charges due to his comments blaming Bolsonaro partly for the unrest and his apparent popularity decline as a result of the incident.
According to Monday’s O Globo, Bolsonaro’s “vulnerability” and “reduced public backing” increase the likelihood that he would become “easy prey” for the court and end himself in jail.
After the violence, police detained around 1,500 individuals, most of whom were residents of pro-Bolsonaro camps set up near the military’s headquarters, demanding that the government remove Lula from office.