Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for his role in the January 8 violent attack on the headquarters of national institutions in Brasilia, has applied for a six-month visa to stay in the United States, his lawyer said. said on Monday, January 30.
The far-right ex-president left Brazil for Florida two days before Lula’s inauguration on 1er January, according to law firm AG Immigration, and his current visa is expected to expire soon. “We look forward to bring utmost satisfaction and desired results to our client”the firm said in a statement. “In his position, he just needs stability,” Felipe Alexander, founder of the consulting firm, estimates.
Mr Bolsonaro is said to have arrived in the United States on a visa issued to visiting leaders, which will expire on Tuesday, as he is no longer on official business.
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The former Brazilian president indicated on the CNN antenna in Brazil that he intended to return at the end of January, and that he was considering postponing his return due to health reasons. Jair Bolsonaro was the victim of a stabbing in 2018 during an election campaign. Since then he has undergone several surgeries for bowel obstruction.
On 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters, displeased with Lula da Silva’s victory over the far-right former president in the October 2022 presidential election, attacked and vandalized the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in Brasilia.
Days later, elected Democrats asked Joe Biden to revoke Jair Bolsonaro’s visa, denying that the United States served as a refuge for the former leader. “We must not allow Mr. Bolsonaro or any other former Brazilian official to seek asylum in the United States to avoid justice for any possible crimes committed during their mandates”Write these 41 elected officials, all from the Democratic Party, in an open letter to President Biden.
Anderson Torres, the former Minister of Justice, was arrested on 14 January as part of an investigation into the looting, as he was returning from the United States by plane.