After staying in the United States for over a month, former Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday he plans to soon return home.
Bolsonaro told a group of supporters at an evangelical church in Florida that his return to Brazil would come “in the following weeks.”
This was the first time Bolsonaro has publicly spoken about his planned return home, reported Associated Press. He has been in the U.S. since his arrival in Orlando, Florida on Dec. 31.
Bolsonaro is reportedly facing numerous investigations back home, especially pertaining to the protest that took place in Brazil’s capital city last month. He famously did not immediately concede the election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a move that was heavily covered by the mainstream media.
Investigators have additionally launched a probe into who may have arranged and funded the mass gathering of Brazilians from all over Brazil who stormed the capital, ABC News reports.
A video shared to Twitter by Jair’s son, Eduardo, showed the former president being greeted by an energetic crowd at an event in Boca Raton, Florida.
Brazilians 🇧🇷 in the United States applaud and celebrate the arrival of Bolsonaro to an event yesterday in Boca Raton, Florida.
Bolsonaro won over 80% of the votes of Brazilians in Florida in the past election. ⬇️pic.twitter.com/I8yAQ6gK5r
— Daniel Di Martino 🇺🇸🇻🇪 (@DanielDiMartino) February 13, 2023
A representative for Bolsonaro revealed that he applied for a tourist visa in the U.S., indicating he was hoping to lengthen his visit. The former president initially came into the country under a one-month diplomatic visa, which terminated on Jan. 31.
Another son of Jair, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, said he was unsure of his father’s reentry to Brazil, telling reporters, “It could be tomorrow; it could be in six months. He might never return.”
Left-wing members of congress have called for the U.S. government to deport the former Brazillian president, using the riots that happened at Brazil’s capital as their justification. Newsmax reported that the Biden administration has not considered acting on such demands as it “never received such requests from Brazil.”
Bolsonaro’s planned return comes after President Lula took a trip last week to Washington, D.C. The leftist president was greeted by Joe Biden, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), according to The Hill.
