Brazil’s Supreme Court cancels Bolsonaro’s efforts to attend Trump’s inauguration | Jair Bolsonaro News

As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches in the United States, one world leader is unlikely to attend: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

On Thursday, Brazil’s Supreme Court rejected A Petition The former president was asked to return his passport, which was confiscated by the federal police in February.

Bolsonaro, who led Brazil from 2019 to 2022, faces multiple investigations and legal proceedings, including corruption charges. Alleged efforts To cancel the results of the country’s presidential elections in 2022.

The former far-right president, nicknamed the “Trump of the Tropics,” denied all the accusations against him. But police deemed him a flight risk.

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“President Trump’s invitation to Bolsonaro symbolizes the deep ties between two of the greatest democracies in the Americas,” the office wrote in its statement. statement.

“The decision to ban Bolsonaro from participating in this important event diminishes Brazil’s standing on the world stage and sends a worrying message about the state of democracy and justice in our country.”

However, the Supreme Court ruled that Bolsonaro’s current role as a private citizen — without elected office — would not require him to travel to the United States for the inauguration, as officials might do.

Brazil is expected to be represented at the opening ceremony by its ambassador to the United States, Maria Luisa Viotti.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that the decision was based on the recommendation of Brazilian Attorney General Paulo Jeunet Branco.

Branco had indicated that there was a greater public interest in keeping Bolsonaro in Brazil than allowing him to travel abroad, where he might escape justice.

De Moraes cited previous statements Bolsonaro made to the media, in which he “considered the possibility of fleeing and seeking political asylum to avoid possible criminal liability in Brazil.”

Trump’s inauguration ceremony on January 20 is expected to bring together some of the world’s most prominent right-wing leaders, including Argentine President Javier Miley and British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage.

Other expected guests include social media mogul Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and billionaire Elon Musk, a close advisor to the next US president.

In a post on social media, the Republican majority on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee offered support to Bolsonaro following the court’s decision.

“Jair Bolsonaro is a friend of America and a patriot. “He should be allowed to attend President Trump’s inauguration.” books.

But Bolsonaro has been mired in legal scrutiny since his defeat in the 2022 election.

In October of that year, the leader of the Left Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Bolsonaro narrowly prevailed in the runoff elections, but Bolsonaro to reject To publicly admit defeat.

He had a long time It sparked false rumours Brazil’s electronic voting machines were vulnerable to fraud, even before a single vote was cast.

In the wake of his loss, hundreds of his supporters The streets were flooded To protest the election results. Bolsonaro himself He left the country for Florida in the period leading up to Lula’s inauguration.

Shortly thereafter, on July 8, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated Attack Three Powers Square in the capital Brasilia, looting the buildings representing the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court.

Bolsonaro has since returned to Brazil. But the court ruled that It can’t be played for office until 2030, as a penalty for using government resources to undermine public confidence in elections.

The former president also faces scrutiny embezzlementAnd it was accused Last year for publishing false information in a national database about coronavirus vaccination status.

In November, the Federal Police also accused Bolsonaro and 36 of his allies are planning the “violent overthrow of the democratic state.”

Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing in these cases. On Thursday, he compared his situation to Trump, who has similarly accused his political opponents of “lawfare” and made false claims of election fraud.

“It is clear that Lula’s government has learned from the mistakes made by the United States, where the judicial system was used for political gain,” Bolsonaro wrote.

But there, they did not move fast enough to destroy their political opponent, Donald Trump, and he was overwhelmed by this judicial activism. I will do that too.