Leftists in Brazil and the United States, where former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is believed to be staying following the end of his term, called for his extradition and arrest on Sunday following a massive mob attack that caused substantial damage to the headquarters of the country’s Congress and top court.
Bolsonaro himself predicted in 2021 that he could end up in prison if he did not win the 2022 election: “I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed, or victory.”
Thousands of protesters opposing the rule of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – a former president who had been convicted of gross corruption during his two terms but won the presidency last year after the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), the top court, used a jurisdictional issue to free him – stormed Brasilia on Sunday, destroying the facades of the Congress and STF buildings.
The protesters overwhelmed police barricades to climb up to the roof of Congress, break through the glass frame of the building, burn parts of it down, and destroy historical artifacts stored there.
At the STF, the protesters destroyed the main meeting center, essentially halting official business indefinitely, and tore down doors, smashed the busts of former STF ministers (justices), and smashed the windows surrounding the hall.
The protesters also attempted to storm Planalto, the offices of the president of Brazil, but police successfully intervened.
The mobs involved in the protests were largely supporters of Bolsonaro outraged that Lula had defeated him and been inaugurated as president following elections in October.
For the past two months, Bolsonaro supporters have demanded that the armed forces of Brazil stage a “federal intervention” to prevent Lula from becoming president on the grounds that the STF’s lifting of his corruption conviction was a violation of Brazilian law that rendered his election illegitimate. While the protesters are demanding military intervention, most would not define such a move as a coup d’etat, arguing that “federal intervention” is an act allowed by the Brazilian constitution rather than an extralegal overturning of an election. The Brazilian constitution, notably, grants the right of “federal intervention” but does not specify who has the power to enact one against the president or court system.
Article 21 of the Brazilian constitution grants the power to decree a “federal intervention” to “the Union,” without specifying who within federal leadership has that power. Other articles state the president can call for such an intervention and Congress has the power to approve or reject it.
Bolsonaro has not publicly weighed in on the constitutionality of such a move but has discouraged illegal activity on the part of his supporters. The former president is believed to be staying in Florida currently and belatedly reacted to the riot on Sunday by comparing it to violence by leftists and condemning any such actions.
No evidence has surfaced at press time that he encouraged, planned, or was otherwise involved in the mob attacks.
Despite his condemnation, both supporters and opponents of Bolsonaro have predicted that the riot may lead the former president to prison.
The anti-Bolsonaro Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported on Monday that allies of Bolsonaro have expressed growing fears that the Lula government will use the riot to arrest the former president. Those concerns reportedly already existed in a less acute way prior to Sunday.
“The political calculus of loyal allies, the more vulnerable Bolsonaro is and the less popular support he can attract, the greater the chances that he becomes ‘easy prey’ for the judiciary and ends up in jail,” O Globo relayed. The newspaper cited an anonymous judge who predicted that, “in the medium term, he won’t escape” prison.
File/Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro, mainly truck drivers, block the BR-101 highway in Palhoca, in the metropolitan region of Florianopolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, on October 31, 2022, as an apparent protest over Bolsonaro’s defeat in the presidential run-off election. (ANDERSON COELHO/AFP via Getty Images)
Prior to Sunday – in late November, as smaller pro-Bolsonaro protests raged nationwide – Istoé listed at least 28 lawsuits potentially leading to criminal repercussions against Bolsonaro already. Bolsonaro faced legal action on spurious grounds such as spreading “fake news” and mishandling the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Lula himself appeared to hint that he would hold Bolsonaro accountable for the riot, calling him “genocidal” on Sunday and claiming that he “not only provoked this, not only stimulated this, like, who knows, he is stimulating this through social media in Miami.”
Bolsonaro is believed to be in the Orlando, Florida, area.
Senator Renan Calheiros, speaking to Brazil’s UOL media outlet, demanded Bolsonaro’s “immediate” extradition from America.
“It is necessary, immediately, to extradite Bolsonaro to Brazil so that he can be held responsible for all the crimes he committed, and it isn’t just related to the victims of [Chinese coronavirus],” Calheiros said on Monday. “In every moment, Bolsonaro was that one who was there: he fled at a [critical hour], when the invasion of the headquarters of the three branches was about to erupt.”
Leftists in the United States began rallying on Sunday night to expel Bolsonaro. Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-TX) urged in a post on TWitter, “Bolsonaro must not be given refuge in Florida.”
Radical leftist lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) compared the riot in Brasilia to the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot, which resulted in significantly less destruction and was triggered by a national context significantly different from Brazil’s.
“The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida,” she proclaimed.
The legality of Bolsonaro’s presence in America could become a political issue if Lula moves to attempt extradition. Speaking to an anonymous American consular official, UOL reported on Monday that the nature of the visa Bolsonaro used to travel to America could be a factor. The official said that Bolsonaro most likely used an A-1 visa, reserved for heads of state, to enter the country if he did so before Lula’s January 1 inauguration. As he is no longer a head of state, the validity of that visa may be jeopardized.
Given calls for his arrest, Bolsonaro may be able to argue that he faces a significant threat of political persecution if he returns to his country.
Lula himself is a convicted felon, once sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison for taking bribes while being president. The STF freed him and overturned the conviction claiming the original court to try the case did not have jurisdiction to do so. Neither Lula nor the STF have presented any exculpatory evidence indicating Lula was not guilty of the crimes he was imprisoned for.