Bolsonaro says he will return to Brazil in March – 02/14/2023 – Politics

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who has been in the United States since December 30, said he will return to Brazil in March to lead the opposition to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT). He mentioned the date in an interview with the Wall Street Journal and stated, according to the newspaper, that the right-wing movement in Brazil “is not dead” and will continue.

Bolsonaro traveled to Florida before the end of his term and broke with the tradition of passing the sash to his successor, avoiding a meeting with his opponent Lula.

The former president had been indicating in recent weeks that he would return to Brazil soon, but had not specified a date forecast.

To the WSJ he said that “losing is part of the process” and that “he is not saying there was fraud, but the process was biased”, which the newspaper described as an apparent attempt to moderate criticism of the Brazilian electoral system, after never having openly acknowledged defeat for Lula.

The former president left Brazil on December 30, the day before the end of his term, and broke with democratic tradition by not handing over the presidential sash to Lula.

The former president applied for a tourist visa to stay longer in the United States. He arrived in the country on a diplomatic visa and had 30 days to change that status from the moment he left office.

The law firm hired by Bolsonaro requested a B2 visa for the former president. The document allows for up to six months to stay in the country, but does not authorize paid activities, which would disrupt the plan to finance the stay with lectures for businessmen.

In a statement given at an event in the United States, the former president said that, because he had grandparents born in Italy, he is Italian and would face little bureaucracy to apply for citizenship in the country.

“By law, I am Italian. I have grandparents born in Italy, and your legislation says that I am Italian. Very little bureaucracy and I would have full citizenship,” he said when asked by a reporter for the newspaper Corriere della Sera if he had applied for citizenship. italian.