Jair Bolsonaro returning to Brazil for first time since 8 January riots – Capital Radio Malawi
12 October, 2024

Jair Bolsonaro returning to Brazil for first time since 8 January riots

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is on his way back to Brazil, after spending months in the US.

The far-right politician is returning for the first time since supporters stormed the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace in January.

The riots came after weeks of protests claiming fraud in his defeat to President to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Speaking at an airport in Florida before boarding a flight, he said he would not lead the opposition to Lula.

But in an interview with CNN, Bolsonaro also said he would help his Liberal Party as a “person with experience” and that he intended to travel across Brazil to campaign in next year’s local elections.

After arriving in the terminal in Orlando, he spoke and took pictures with throngs of supporters.

Bolsonaro is scheduled to land in the Brazilian capital, Brasília, early on Thursday local time (three hours behind GMT).

The former president faces numerous legal challenges on his return, including an investigation into whether he incited rioters who stormed key government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration.

He is also at the centre of a scandal over allegations that he tried to illegally import and keep millions of dollars’ worth of jewellery given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia in 2019.

The jewels were impounded by Brazilian customs officials when a member of Bolsonaro’s entourage tried to bring them into the country in 2021.

On Wednesday, federal police summoned Bolsonaro to testify in the Saudi case on 5 April.

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