Bolsonaro wants alliance between PL and Trump’s Republican Party

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will meet next Saturday (4) with former President of the United States Donald Trump, at the 2023 edition of the Annual Conference on Conservative Political Action (CPAC), the largest conservative event in the world. The Brazilian tries to set up an international political structure and create an alliance between the PL and the US Republican Party.

According to a close ally of Bolsonaro, who asked not to be named, the objective is to absorb good party-political practices from the Republican Party and replicate them in Brazil. This would be the first step in a project to seek positive experiences among right-wing parties in the world’s main democracies.

Thus, in addition to the PL, the connection with the Republican Party would serve for the right to establish an “international network of mutual support”, comments the former Secretary of Culture during Bolsonaro’s administration, André Porciuncula. “The left does this very well, it’s past time we started doing it”, he points out.

Bolsonaro’s idea would be to set up an international political structure that would allow conservative militancy to remain engaged in Brazil. Such a system would operate outside national jurisprudence. Thus, in theory, the structure would be less subject to the legal uncertainty that has been caused by Brazilian superior courts within the country.

But, the work would be done without “so much noise” and “spotlights” on social networks. The focus would be to act in a strategic and organized way to support and strengthen the conservative movement in Brazil, according to the former president’s ally heard by the report.

The general idea of ​​Bolsonaro and allies affiliated with the PL is to promote the approximation of conservative voters to the party. The party’s national president, Valdemar Costa Neto, has no objection to investing in the “base” and has the goal of consolidating the party as the biggest right-wing party in Brazil. For this, he even promoted changes to the party program.

Alignment between Trump, US conservatives and Bolsonaro divides PL

The proximity between Bolsonaro, Trump and the conservative movement in the United States divides the PL. Some leaderships and directors are critical, others are indifferent and others are favorable. The party is divided into three wings: a more pragmatic and “municipalist” one, which favors a neutral relationship with Lula; one conservative, but moderate and independent of Bolsonaro; and another who wants to keep the ex-president’s legacy alive.

The most critical understand that it is not a welcome alignment for a party that proposes to build a “democratic opposition” to Lula and his government. The argument is that the relationship feeds a more ideological and minority niche of the conservative electorate, and not the median voter, who is conservative but less ideological.

The more moderate wing among the conservatives is indifferently positioned, although they defend a strict pragmatism in the relationship with Trump and the right in the United States. Valdemar Costa Neto, for example, understands that the conservative movement is permanent and needs to be strategically explored, as long as it is balanced and without radicalism.

Those closest to the former president are, naturally, the most enthusiastic about aligning themselves with Trump. The group assesses that the former president of the United States still has an expressive political and popular force, comparable to that of Bolsonaro. This political capital can be important for the organization of the planned international political structure.

Bolsonaro’s speech at CPAC will have freedom as a theme

The CPAC conference started on Wednesday (1st) in Washington, in the United States, and will run until Saturday (4th). Bolsonaro’s speech is scheduled for the last day of the event, at 3:10 pm (Brasília time, 1:10 pm in Washington), and should last about 15 minutes.

After his speech, Bolsonaro will remain at the event, where he will meet former US President Donald Trump, who will deliver the closing speech.

The meeting between the two former presidents, as well as the presence and space for Bolsonaro’s speech, were articulated by federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP). He will also participate, as a debater, in a panel entitled “The red menace arrives in the Americas” together with the founder of the Viva Mexico Movement, Eduardo Verastegui, and CPAC co-host, Mercedes Schlapp.

Bolsonaro’s participation is enthusiastically celebrated by allies heard by the People’s Gazette. The analysis made is that the agenda reinforces the former president as the “great leader” of the right in Brazil. The meeting with Trump, by the way, is the result of an international articulation to show that the right is still “alive and strong”. They want to show that they will continue to represent the interests of the conservative electorate and not give up on their countries.

Former special secretary of Culture in Bolsonaro’s administration, André Porciuncula says that the former president always emphasizes the importance of freedom in speeches. He says he believes that this is, without a doubt, the most important and expected theme in the speech. “We are living in an era of serious violations of individual freedoms, always embellished by empty slogans and watchwords that the extreme left usually mimetically repeats”, he comments.

Porciuncula also points out that the former president has always been an “institutional barrier” against violations of freedoms. “I believe that he will continue to reinforce this ideal of freedom as the main point of any minimally civilized human policy. In times of doublethink and newspeak, saying the obvious is an act of bravery. The president pays a very high price for being a staunch defender of our freedom,” says the former secretary, referring to the work of writer George Orwell.

CPAC offers Bolsonaro an important platform as leader of the right

An ally says that Bolsonaro will continue “fighting” and “militating” for conservative causes, that participating in the CPAC is a prestige and proves that he remains the great leader of the right. In a reserved condition, he assesses that the speech, the meeting with Trump and the presence at the event are opportunities to recover political capital, although he admits that there are, today, no guarantees that he will be the right-wing candidate in the 2026 elections.

Another ally says it is too early to say whether or not Bolsonaro will be a candidate for the next presidential election. But, on condition of anonymity, he considers that the former president will have a preponderant role for the organization of the right and for the viability of an opposition candidacy for the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

Porciuncula understands that Bolsonaro’s presence at the largest conservative event in the world reinforces that the former president is the political leader of the national right. “Away with all this nonsense that he will be replaced in 2026. His meeting with Trump will be important, the two are the world’s greatest representatives of the right. The two greatest statesmen of our time”, he opines.

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) has already taken steps to launch his father to the Presidency in 2026, as a way to consolidate the current political capital. But the former president himself did not deny the possibility of supporting a candidate, in case he becomes ineligible for the next presidential elections. He even endorsed the construction of conversations in this regard.

The PL has the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), as a potential “plan B” for the presidential race in 2026. In case of ineligibility, Bolsonaro would not rule out giving his support, as long as he participates in the construction process and organization of the right, as the national president of his party, Valdemar Costa Neto, wants.

Ex-president may return to Brazil in March or April

Bolsonaro’s CPAC agenda may not be his last in the United States. He continues with commitments until at least the end of March. As soon as the programming is completed, the former president’s promise is to return to Brazil, as he said to allies in Congress and to Valdemar Costa Neto.

The hypothesis that the commitments extend until April, however, is not discarded. As found out by People’s Gazettethere is the possibility of an agenda with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, with Senator Ted Cruz, and with other members of the Republican Party and conservative leaders.

Costa Neto admits the possibility of the former president returning next month. “I think Bolsonaro gets into the rhythm of here, at most, a month or a month and a half. I think he will already be here in April, in my opinion”, he declared on Wednesday (1st) to journalists after leaving a meeting with the PL bench in the Chamber of Deputies.

Furthermore, the newspaper Orlando Sentinel reported on Wednesday (1st) that Bolsonaro plans to make Orlando his home base for at least a few more weeks while the US government processes his visa application. The ex-president’s lawyer, Felipe Alexandre, told the report that he had moved from the house where he was, near Kissimmee, to an undisclosed location.

the agency already Bloomberg reported on Monday (27) that the Lula government gave until April for Bolsonaro’s return to Brazil and points out that the former president will face “many” lawsuits upon his return from the US. He is being investigated in the investigation into those responsible for the acts of vandalism on January 8 and in the investigation into the alleged crime of genocide against the Yanomami people.