According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was taken to a clinic in Orlando (Florida) with severe abdominal pain and confirmed by his wife Michelle Bolsonaro on the social network Instagram. It’s not the first time Bolsonaro has been hospitalized with abdominal pain. Since the knife attack he suffered at a campaign event in 2018, there have been repeated hospitalizations. The last two were in January and March of last year, always because of the same problem. The former Brazilian President tweeted that he has already been fired.
“Dear friends, I inform you that my husband Jair Bolsonaro is being monitored in hospital for abdominal discomfort stemming from the stab wound he received from a former PSOL affiliate. [el izquierdista Partido Socialismo y Libertad]. We pray for your health and that of Brazil. God bless us,” wrote Michelle Bolsonaro.
– After the facade in Juiz de Fora/MG suffered, I underwent 5 surgeries. From the latter I have attachments for 2x, which I will take over from other medical interventions.
– Ontem new admission and discharge hospital in Orlando/USA.
– Thank you for the prayers and messages for a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/u5JwG7UZnc— Jair M Bolsonaro 2️⃣2️⃣ (@jairbolsonaro) January 10, 2023
Later, Bolsonaro himself tweeted a message with a photo in a hospital bed: “After being stabbed in Juiz de Fora/MG, I had five surgeries. I’ve had adhesions twice since the last one that led to other medical procedures. Yesterday I had new adhesions and was discharged from the hospital in Orlando/USA. Thank you for your prayers and messages for a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
That same Monday, ahead of his hospitalization, Bolsonaro posted a series of purported accomplishments of his presidency on his Twitter account. Through the same social network, this Sunday, more than five hours after it began and when the authorities had already regained control of the situation, Bolsonaro launched a lukewarm condemnation of the assault on the state power in Brasilia.
A group of Bolsonaristas takes over the Brazilian parliament Photo: AFP | Video: EPV
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Bolsonaro traveled to Orlando, Florida on December 30 in a sort of self-imposed exile. By traveling to the United States in the closing days of his presidency, Bolsonaro avoided imposing the presidential sash and handing over power to his successor and rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is the subject of various investigations by his government, which has led to speculation that his departure from the country is trying to avoid them.
He arrived at Orlando’s Signature Flight Support Airport aboard the presidential plane and, escorted by his security guard, was taken to a mansion in Orlando former Brazilian mixed martial artist José Aldo da Silva, where he has been staying. Pictures of the ex-president greeting his supporters, including a photo of him eating fried chicken at a KFC restaurant in Orlando, were released last week.
The United States has avoided clarifying the legal situation Bolsonaro is in in the United States and the possibility of his extradition to Brazil. This Saturday they asked both National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and State Department spokesman Ned Price about it, but both threw balls.
“As far as I know, we are not in direct contact with Bolsonaro. Therefore, I cannot definitively speak of his whereabouts. At the moment we have not received any official request from the Brazilian government regarding Bolsonaro. Of course, when we receive such requests, we would treat them as we always do: we would take them seriously,” Sullivan said in Mexico City. He clarified that visa matters are the responsibility of the State Department, but the government does not publicly discuss individual visa cases. “But I would like to reiterate that we have not received any official request from the Brazilian government on this matter. If and when, we’ll take care of it. And if we have any information to provide, we will. But I assume that this information will ultimately be provided by the State Department,” he added.
Heads of state (and Bolsonaro was when he arrived in Florida) enter the United States on A1 visas, although the State Department has also declined to confirm this. “Of course, I will not comment on individuals’ visa files. As you know, individual Visa files are confidential and we are not discussing the situation of any particular person,” Price said at a news conference on Monday.
Price has added that the holder of such a visa “stops conducting official activities on behalf of their government, must leave the United States, or request a change to another immigration status within 30 days,” which could be the case with Bolsonaro.
Democratic Congressmen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro on Sunday linked the attack in Brasilia to that in the United States two years ago, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington. Added Ocasio Cortez on his Twitter account: “The United States must stop granting sanctuary to Bolsonaro in Florida”. On the same line Castro spoke, also on the social network: “Bolsonaro should not have sanctuary in Florida, where he has been hiding from responsibility for his crimes.” In reality, Bolsonaro does not have refugee status in the US.
Biden talks to Lula
President of the United States Joe Biden spoke to President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over the phone, after which they issued a joint statement: “President Biden has expressed the unwavering support of the United States for democracy in Brazil and the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in the recent Brazilian presidential elections won by President Lula. President Biden has condemned the violence and attack on democratic institutions and the peaceful transfer of power. The two leaders have pledged to work closely together on issues facing the United States and Brazil, such as climate change, economic development, and peace and security. President Biden has invited President Lula to visit Washington for in-depth consultations on a broad common agenda in early February, and President Lula has accepted the invitation,” the White House statement said.
In a message on Twitter on Sunday, Biden noted: “I condemn the attack on democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. I hope to continue working with Lula.”
Sullivan developed the American position in an act in Mexico City, where Biden is scheduled to attend a summit with the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada: “The democratic institutions of Brazil will be upheld, the will of the Brazilian people will be upheld, the freely elected leader of Brazil will rule Brazil and will not be swayed or swayed from the actions of these people who have attacked the instruments of government in Brasilia, including Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court. So we believe that Brazilian democracy is resilient and strong and will continue to evolve,” he said.
lukewarm condemnation
This Sunday, in his lukewarm condemnation of his supporters’ attack on Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidency, he declared: “Peaceful demonstrations in accordance with the law are part of democracy. However, the devastation and invasions of public buildings that have taken place today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, are beyond the norm”, referring to the popular protests in the closing stages of the Dilma Rousseff government and after his sacking, as some protesters went to the roof of the convention.
“Throughout my tenure, I have always stayed within the four lines of the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom,” he wrote in a second tweet on Sunday. “Moreover, I reject, without evidence, the allegations attributed to me by the current chief of the executive branch of Brazil,” he concluded in a third, echoing the words of the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who had told him blame for the attack.
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