In 5 points: Bolsonaro’s relationship with Saudi Arabia – 05/04/2023 – Politics

The Federal Police scheduled for this Wednesday (5) the testimonies of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his aides in the presidency, Army lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid, on the jewelry received from Saudi Arabian authorities in October 2021.

On that occasion, a soldier who advised the then Minister Bento Albuquerque (Mines and Energy) tried to land in Brazil, after traveling to the Middle East, with luxury items in his backpack. As they had not been declared, the goods were seized by the Federal Revenue Service.

Bolsonaro and Cid will be questioned by investigators about the case, including attempts to recover the jewels, valued at R$16.5 million. As shown to Sheetthe former representative even discussed the matter with the then head of the Federal Revenue Julio Cesar Vieira Gomes last December.

Another set of items, including a watch, cufflinks and ring, was also in the luggage of the entourage led by Albuquerque. That package was not intercepted at customs. An official receipt recorded the delivery of this second set to the Presidency in November 2022, to compose the former president’s personal collection.

By determination of the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União), these articles that were in Bolsonaro’s personal collection were delivered by his lawyers to Caixa Econômica Federal to be kept until the end of an investigation initiated by the court of accounts.

The same procedure was adopted this Tuesday (4) on a third jewelry case, personally offered to the former president when he was in Saudi Arabia in 2019.

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RELATIONS BETWEEN BRAZIL AND SAUDI ARABIA UNDER BOLSONARO

presidential visit
Bolsonaro visited Saudi Arabia once, in October 2019, weeks after he stated at the UN that his administration would deepen relations with Asian partners, including that country in the Middle East.

‘Almost brother’
At the meeting, the former president said he had “a certain affinity” and that he felt “almost a brother” of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a controversial leader for disrespecting human rights and accused of having ordered the death of a journalist in the premises of the Saudi embassy in Turkey. .

Commercial partnership
Brazilian imports of products from Saudi Arabia hit a record in 2022, the last year of the Bolsonaro administration. It was US$ 5.3 billion, the highest value in the government’s historical series with information from 1997. The previous record was US$ 3.3 billion (2014). Oil and fertilizers are the main imported products.

government missions
Data from the government’s Transparency Portal, according to a survey of Bolsonaro’s opponents in the National Congress, indicate more than 150 missions by Brazilian authorities to the Middle Eastern country between 2019 and 2022.

Among them is the entourage to Saudi Arabia led by the then Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, who returned to Brazil with the luxury items in his luggage offered by the Saudis.

frustrated invitation
Bolsonaro invited Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Brazil in March last year, but the visit did not materialize.