Expenses of Bolsonaro’s trip to Orlando already add up to R$ 274,000

Former President Jair Bolsonaro’s expenses with security guards traveling to Orlando (USA) amount to R$ 274,000. There are R$ 37 thousand with tickets and travel insurance and 237 thousand with 115 days paid to five security guards. The stewardship is financed by the Presidency of the Republic, with the sum destined to cover the expenses of former presidents. But who pays the bill is the taxpayer.

The then federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro even presented a bill (9.895/2018), in March 2018, in partnership with the deputy Delegate Francischini (SD-PR), still in the pre-campaign for president of the Republic, to end the stewardship. In justifying the proposal, the authors highlighted that project 7474/96 “granted privileges to former presidents”.

And they added: “At a time of financial crisis, when efforts are required from society and the government to rebalance public accounts, it is not appropriate to have outdated legislation, which has even been copied by state and municipal governments”. They also highlighted that each of the former presidents consumed something around R$ 1 million per year from the public coffers: “In total, it costs R$ 5 million per year, distributed among forty employees and ten official vehicles”.

Bolsonaro forgets project after elected

After being elected, Bolsonaro never touched on the subject again. The attack he suffered during the 2018 election campaign made the president review his decision to end the “outdated legislation”. As of the 1st of this year, he began to spend money with the money destined for former presidents, as shown on the blog. The first records showed an expense of BRL 63,500 with the transfer of two security guards to Orlando. Each of them received R$ 27,300 for 14 nights.

But heavier expenses would come. Three more civil servants traveled to Orlando with the mission of providing advisory, security and support services for a period of 30 days. The team had a captain and a reserve colonel. The captain’s expenses reached R$73,300, R$64,000 of which in per diem. Spending on the colonel amounted to R$68,700, with R$59,000 in per diem. In addition to the commissioned positions (DAS), the colonel has a monthly income of R$40,000, while the captain has a monthly income of R$37,000. A server provided by the government of Rio de Janeiro also went to Orlando for 30 days. Its displacement cost another R$ 68.6 thousand.

In 2022, Lula spent BRL 1.8 million on benefits as a former president, with BRL 1.1 million on daily rates and tickets for his support team. The six former presidents spent R$7.7 million last year. Dilma ranked second in spending, with a total of R$ 1.6 million. With the inauguration on January 1, Lula lost the benefits of former president. But he will again rely on perks when his current term ends.