Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro has returned to the country but is in the crosshairs of justice

Former President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters from the Liberal Party offices in Brasilia, March 30, 2023. AFP - EVARISTO SA

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

After a three-month stay in the United States, Jair Bolsonaro, determined to play an important political role, returned early on Thursday, March 30, to Brazil for the first time since his defeat in the presidential election against Lula.

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Former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's head of state from 2019 to 2022, arrived at Brasilia International Airport shortly before 7am (10am GMT) on a commercial flight from Orlando, Florida. The man, the subject of a long series of investigations, is exposed to legal proceedings with possible ineligibility and imprisonment, while complicating the political situation for his left-wing successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The most recent investigation into the former head of state concerns his role in the January 8 riots against the places of power in Brasilia, ransacked by thousands of his supporters. The other four relate to alleged crimes during his mandate: disinformation about the electronic ballot box system or about Covid-19. Jair Bolsonaro is also under no less than 16 investigations at the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). He could be sentenced to eight years of ineligibility, which would prevent him from running for president in 2026.

200 supporters

Some 200 supporters were waiting for him, all carrying Brazilian flags around their shoulders and singing, amid an unusual police deployment, an AFP journalist found. But Bolsonaro walked out of the airport without addressing them. CNN Brasil broadcast footage of a procession of vehicles leaving the airport. "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time," Eva Malgaço, an employee of a beauty salon, told AFP-TV at the airport. "He needed this moment for himself, to be away. As a patriot, I approved of his departure," she added.

Bolsonaro left Brazil on December 30, even before the end of his term, boycotting Lula's inauguration ceremony on January 1. "I will participate (in the political life) of my party, bringing my experience," he told CNN Brasil at the Orlando airport on Wednesday night. At 68 years old and after a defeat of less than two million votes that plunged him into silence, even depression, Bolsonaro had declared last week his intention to "travel the country", and "to do politics" to defend ultra-conservative values in Brazil.

This return is greeted with nervousness in Brasilia where the military police were ready to quickly close access to the esplanade of the Three Powers, in the heart of the capital, as well as at the airport, in case of overflows. Bolsonaro's supporters had been called on social networks to welcome him in large numbers. PL deputy Gustavo Gayer called for "solid support" to "pave the way for Bolsonaro to return to the presidency."

Lula's difficult sequence

Bolsonaro's return to Brazil comes as President Lula goes through a difficult sequence, less than three months after taking office. After contracting pneumonia, he had to postpone this week a state visit to China on which his advisers were counting to restore his image following various controversies and untimely statements. As soon as he arrived, Bolsonaro had to go to the offices of the Liberal Party (PL), escorted by military police vehicles, like any ex-president. He is to be welcomed by Valdemar Costa Netto, the leader of this party under whose colors he had run for president, and by deputies, allied senators and former ministers.

(

With AFP)

► READ ALSO: Ex-President Bolsonaro returns to Brazil and must face several judicial investigations

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• Brazil
• Jair Bolsonaro
• Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva