Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro made a reluctant return to Brazil on Thursday but showed determination to oppose Lula, who defeated him in October’s election after a three-month stay in the United States.
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Determined to get back into politics and uphold ultra-conservative values, he did not go to the 200 fervent supporters who waited for him, chanting and chanting his name at the airport, due to the authorities’ strict security protocol. after arriving from Florida just before 7 a.m. local time, AFP noted.
The former far-right president went straight to the offices of the Liberal Party (PL), under whose banner he had stood for re-election.
“Those in power now and not for long will not be able to do what they want with the future of our country,” he said in a speech to PL leaders, broadcast on social media.
“We have almost 20% of the seats (in Congress) and we have allies from other parties. We are the majority and we want what is best for our country,” he added.
Jair Bolsonaro just emerged from a window to greet his admirers, often dressed in the yellow and green colors of the national flag, before very quickly exiting the grounds to wave to them under the bright sun.
Fearing overcrowding, the military police were mobilized in large numbers for this arrival after the PL had widely advertised Bolsonaro’s return on social media.
Back in Brazil, the ex-president, who is the subject of a long line of investigations, is facing possible inadmissibility and possible imprisonment trials while hampering the political deal for his leftist successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Mr. Bolsonaro left Brazil on December 30, before the end of his term, and boycotted Lula’s January 1 inauguration ceremony.
Aged 68 and after an “unfair” defeat that plunged him into depression, he announced last week he wanted to “tour the country” and “do politics”.
Jair Bolsonaro’s return to Brazil comes at a time when President Lula is going through a difficult patch less than three months after taking office.
This week, after contracting pneumonia, he was forced to postpone a state visit to China his advisers hoped to restore his image following various controversies and inappropriate comments.
“Lula will now have to rule with an organized opposition, that could make a big difference,” Jairo Nicolau, political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) told AFP.
Brazilians were divided over the return of their former president (2019-2022).
“I like the idea of his return,” Edanaldo Carlos, a self-employed entrepreneur, told AFP-TV in Rio de Janeiro, “during his tenure he hasn’t had enough time, just enough time, to deal with the pandemic” of COVID .
But this return was greeted with indifference by others, such as Carla Marques da Conceiço, a housewife. “He’s no longer president of Brazil, I don’t care,” she said.
The Liberal Party confirmed to AFP that Mr Bolsonaro would receive monthly stipends of nearly €7,000 as honorary president.
After lunch at the PL’s premises, the former head of state was to go with his wife Michelle to his future residence in a very protected condominium in the Jardim Botanico district of Brasilia.
This ardent evangelical, just 41 years old, has just taken over the leadership of the PL’s women’s section and could potentially run for the presidency in 2026.
Jair Bolsonaro finds himself in the middle of a dispute over luxury jewelery worth at least three million euros from Saudi Arabia, which he is said to have illegally brought to Brazil.
He was summoned to testify by police on April 5.
Mr Bolsonaro, who has lost his immunity, is also the subject of five Supreme Court investigations into cases that could land him in prison.
Jair Bolsonaro is also the subject of no fewer than 16 investigations in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
He could face an eight-year ban, which would prevent him from running for president in 2026.