Bolsonaro analyzes extending stay in the United States, say allies

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) has been considering lengthening his stay in the United States, according to allies. The option of staying longer on US soil has been studied by Bolsonaro, who fears consequences related to the incitement to the coup that resulted in the anti-democratic acts, on January 8, in Brasília.

A group of businessmen from São Paulo who were sympathetic to the former president put together an initial plan to pay for the politician’s stay in the country, where he traveled on December 30, in order to avoid participating in the transmission of the presidential sash to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ( PT) on the 1st of January.

Six lectures on politics were arranged with American businessmen, each paying US$ 10,000 (almost R$ 51,000 in today’s exchange rate). Bolsonaro, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, has committed to uttering at least one of them.

The central issue, according to allies of the former president, is financial. There is extreme opacity about the conditions of Bolsonaro’s presence in a house belonging to MMA fighter José Aldo in Kissimmee, Orlando region, Florida.

THE Sheet was unable to contact the former president’s team. The decree that regulated Bolsonaro’s departure from the country with an Air Force plane included 5 of the 8 employees to which he is entitled as a former president in the entourage.

But the images and reports from acquaintances show that there are many more people involved, so much so that a second house in the same condominium was occupied by the group, which has their son Carlos, councilor for Republicanos do Rio, at the head.

As a result, the costs of a longer stay can become prohibitive, particularly if funding sources are exposed. A night at Aldo’s property costs the equivalent of R$2,600. Bolsonaro now has a salary of R$45,000 as a former deputy and retired military man.

His party, the PL, promised a remuneration equivalent to the official ceiling (R$ 39,300 today, R$ 41,600 from April) to complement Bolsonaro’s income, but the party’s president, Valdemar Costa Neto , conditioned this to the presence of the former president in the country.

This allied group recommended that Bolsonaro open an account at Banco do Brasil in Orlando, to allow access to his funds in Brazil. These people claim that there is still the issue of defense lawyers, who should not be covered by the PL.

In the Superior Electoral Court alone, Bolsonaro responds to 16 actions. There, Bolsonaro and his running mate Walter Braga Netto (PL) could end up declared ineligible.

A criminal accusation of fomenting a coup d’état, however, even if strengthened with the draft found in the house of former minister Anderson Torres (Justice), is not so easy to prove, in the opinion of ministers of the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro is being investigated for this too.

All of this weighs on the former president’s decision about what to do, according to the allies. Despite the legal risks, members of the PL have said that Bolsonaro needs to return to Brazil soon, under penalty of seeing the support that gave him 49.1% of the valid votes in the second round fade away or, worse, migrate.

Contacts are most often indirect, as Bolsonaro isolated himself and changed his cell phone number. But the movement reported in the American condominium is large. A significant number of people close to Bolsonaro are or have been in Florida since he arrived, although it is not known who would have found him.

Torres was one of those tourists, before being exonerated from the post of Secretary of Security for the Federal District in the middle of the Sunday of chaos in Brasilia. He denied having met with the former president, as well as former vice-elect and senator-elect Hamilton Mourão (Republicans) — the latter, in any case, basically broken with Bolsonaro.

Former Minister Torres had his arrest decreed by Supreme Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who also presides over the TSE and is the sheriff of actions against the coup leaders, and surrendered in Brazil on Saturday (14). Another figure of Bolsonarism in the US state is the fugitive Allan dos Santos, a digital influencer with extradition requested by Brazil.

The lack of transparency about Bolsonaro’s plans has accompanied the former president since he left the country. There was never an official communication about his itinerary, with allies suggesting he would rest for three months in the US.

Initially, he would stay at the Mar-a-Lago resort, owned by former US President Donald Trump, his ally and inspirer of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, which served as a model for Brazilian vandals. The plan was eventually changed and he went home to Kissimmee.

On the 9th, feeling abdominal pain, Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with intestinal adhesions, a problem that has afflicted him since he was stabbed in the 2018 campaign. He told CNN Brasil the day after that he should anticipate his return.

“I came to stay until the end of the month, but I intend to anticipate my return. Because in Brazil the doctors already know about my problem with intestinal obstruction because of the stabbing”, she said. After leaving the hospital the same day, however, he no longer spoke of the matter.

There is also the question of the legal status of the politician. He traveled as head of state and his visa, according to the US government, expires in that capacity at the end of January. The simplest way to stay is to apply for a business or temporary work and tourism visa, which allows stays of up to 90 days and lectures, since the search for a permanent residence is more complex.

The problem in this case is that he would have to leave and return to the US with that periodicity, if he wanted to maintain himself more or less indefinitely. This creates a political problem for the government of Democrat Joe Biden, whose party has deputies calling for Bolsonaro’s leave to stay to be revoked.

* With information from Folha de São Paulo

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