WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Prensa Latina) — Nearly fifty Democratic United States congressmen today asked President Joe Biden to revoke the diplomatic visa of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is in Florida.
In a letter sent Thursday to the resident of the Oval Office, members of the House of Representatives expressed concern over the riots that erupted in Brasilia last Sunday, when a group of supporters of the former president attacked the three-branches headquarters of the state.
The United States must not allow Mr. Bolsonaro or any other former Brazilian official to take refuge in the country to avoid justice for crimes they may have committed during their tenure, they wrote in the letter, quoted by The Hill newspaper.
They also insisted that the northern nation should help investigate the Brazilian government if it asks.
“Since Mr. Bolsonaro entered the United States while he was still President of Brazil, it is our understanding that it is possible that he did so on an A-1 visa reserved for persons on diplomatic or official visits,” it says in the letter.
Since he is no longer the ruler or official, the signatories argued, we demand that his status in the country be reassessed to determine if there is a legal basis for his stay and to revoke any diplomatic visas he may have has.
The letter was signed by 46 Democrats in the House of Commons, including MP Joaquín Castro and Gregory Meeks, who is the senior member of that legislature’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Last Sunday, a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and Brazil’s presidential palace to protest the results of the elections held there.
Jair Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before Lula was inaugurated on Jan. 1, when it is customary for the outgoing president to present the presidential sash to his successor.
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