{"id":216611,"date":"2025-01-16T11:13:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T11:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/16\/former-brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-looks-to-trump-and-the-u-s-to-avoid-prison\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T11:13:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T11:13:57","slug":"former-brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-looks-to-trump-and-the-u-s-to-avoid-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/16\/former-brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-looks-to-trump-and-the-u-s-to-avoid-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Looks to Trump and the U.S. to Avoid Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/16\/multimedia\/16brazil-bolsonaro-interview-qgfl\/16brazil-bolsonaro-interview-qgfl-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Looks to Trump and the U.S. to Avoid Prison\" title=\"Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Looks to Trump and the U.S. to Avoid Prison\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jair Bolsonaro has had a rough couple of years: <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/30\/world\/americas\/lula-election-results-brazil-bolsonaro.html\" title=\"\">election losses<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/americas\/brazil-police-raid-bolsonaro-attempted-coup-investigation.html\" title=\"\">criminal cases<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/americas\/jair-bolsonaro-hungary-video.html\" title=\"\">questionable embassy sleepovers<\/a>. So when he finally received a piece of good news last week \u2014 an invitation to President-elect Donald J. Trump\u2019s inauguration \u2014 it lifted his spirits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m feeling like a kid again with Trump\u2019s invite. I\u2019m fired up. I\u2019m not even taking Viagra anymore,\u201d the former Brazilian president said in an interview on Tuesday, employing his trademark sophomoric humor. \u201cTrump\u2019s gesture is something to be proud of, right? Who\u2019s Trump? The most important guy in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But reality has a way of spoiling plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court has confiscated Mr. Bolsonaro\u2019s passport as part of an investigation into <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/americas\/brazil-police-raid-bolsonaro-attempted-coup-investigation.html\" title=\"\">whether he tried to stage a coup<\/a> after losing re-election in 2022. To attend Monday\u2019s inauguration, Mr. Bolsonaro has had to request permission from a Supreme Court justice who is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/01\/22\/world\/americas\/brazil-alexandre-de-moraes.html\" title=\"\">also his political nemesis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Wednesday, Brazil\u2019s attorney general recommended that his request be rejected. Mr. Bolsonaro admitted he would likely be watching from home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That likely split screen \u2014 Mr. Trump returning to the world\u2019s most powerful job while Mr. Bolsonaro stays home on court orders \u2014 would encapsulate the two political doppelg\u00e4ngers\u2019 starkly divergent paths since they were voted out of office and then claimed fraud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2025, Mr. Trump will head to the White House \u2014 and Mr. Bolsonaro could be headed to prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three separate criminal investigations are closing in on Mr. Bolsonaro, and there are widespread expectations in Brazil \u2014 including from Mr. Bolsonaro himself \u2014 that he could soon be at the center one of the highest-profile trials in Brazil\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m being watched all the time,\u201d Mr. Bolsonaro, 69, said in the lively 90-minute interview, in which he aired grievances, repeated conspiracy theories and confessed his anxiety about his future. \u201cI think the system doesn\u2019t want me locked up; it wants me eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But developments in the United States have given Mr. Bolsonaro new hope. Mr. Trump, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are leading a global push for free speech, he said, and he hopes that could somehow transform the political landscape in Brazil. \u201cSocial networks decide elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For years, Mr. Bolsonaro has accused a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, Alexandre de Moraes, of censoring conservative voices and politically persecuting him. Justice Moraes has indeed become one of the most aggressive <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/16\/world\/americas\/brazil-supreme-court-expanded-powers-democracy.html\" title=\"\">policemen of the internet<\/a> in a democracy, ordering social networks to block at least 340 accounts in Brazil since 2020, and often keeping his reasons under seal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That led to a clash with Mr. Musk last year, resulting in the judge\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/30\/world\/americas\/brazil-elon-musk-x-blocked.html\" title=\"\">ban on Mr. Musk\u2019s social network<\/a>, X, in Brazil. Mr. Musk eventually <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/21\/world\/americas\/elon-musk-x-brazil.html\" title=\"\">backed down<\/a>. But the dispute <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/07\/world\/americas\/brazil-politics-elon-musk-republicans.html\" title=\"\">drew global attention<\/a> to Mr. Bolsonaro\u2019s complaints about Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So Mr. Bolsonaro said he was delighted last week when <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/07\/technology\/meta-fact-checking-facebook.html\" title=\"\">Mr. Zuckerberg said<\/a> his company would \u201cwork with President Trump to push back against\u201d foreign governments that want to \u201ccensor more.\u201d One of his main examples were \u201csecret courts\u201d in Latin America \u201cthat can order companies to quietly take things down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brazilian officials took that as a shot across the bow. The next day, Justice Moraes <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/poder\/2025\/01\/stf-nao-vai-permitir-que-big-techs-sejam-instrumentalizadas-para-discursos-de-odio-diz-moraes.shtml\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">warned<\/a> that social networks could only operate in Brazil if they follow Brazilian law, \u201cregardless of the bravado of big tech executives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bolsonaro had a different view. \u201cI\u2019m liking Zuckerberg,\u201d he said. \u201cWelcome to the world of good people, of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">How exactly will Mr. Trump and the tech executives affect his many legal and political challenges? Mr. Bolsonaro was vague. \u201cI\u2019m not going to try to give Trump any tips, ever,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I hope his politics really spill over into Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Elizabeth Bagley, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Brazil, said Mr. Bolsonaro\u2019s wish that the United States could come to his rescue are far-fetched. The U.S. government does not interfere with another country\u2019s judicial process, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bolsonaro has bigger problems than censorship. Over the past year, Brazil\u2019s federal police has formally accused him of crimes in three separate cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In one, the police said Mr. Bolsonaro took money from the sale of jewelry he received as state gifts, including <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/22\/world\/americas\/bolsonaro-brazil-arrest-watches.html\" title=\"\">a diamond Rolex watch<\/a> from the Saudis that his aide later sold at a Pennsylvania mall. Mr. Bolsonaro blamed the situation on unclear rules around who owned such gifts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a second, the police said he participated in a plot to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/19\/world\/americas\/brazil-bolsonaro-charges-covid.html\" title=\"\">falsify his Covid-19 vaccination records<\/a> so he could travel to the United States. Mr. Bolsonaro said he did not receive the vaccine, but denied knowing of efforts to fake his records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And in the most grave accusation, the police said Mr. Bolsonaro \u201cplanned, acted in, and had direct and effective control over\u201d <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/americas\/brazil-police-raid-bolsonaro-attempted-coup-investigation.html\" title=\"\">a conspiracy to carry out a coup<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The federal police recently released two reports, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/08\/opinion\/bolsonaro-brazil-coup.html\" title=\"\">totaling 1,105 pages<\/a>, that detailed its accusations, including that he personally edited a decree for a national state of emergency designed to prevent the election\u2019s winner, President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, from taking office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bolsonaro abandoned the plan after he pitched three leaders of Brazil\u2019s military and two refused to take part, the police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the interview, Mr. Bolsonaro vehemently denied any coup plot \u2014 he handed over power after all, he said \u2014 but he did admit having discussed the decree. \u201cI won\u2019t deny it to you,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in the second conversation it was given up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said he considered a state of emergency because he believed the election had been stolen, but Justice Moraes had blocked his party\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/23\/world\/americas\/bolsonaro-brazil-election.html\" title=\"\">request to overturn the results<\/a>. Then his team realized Congress would have to approve the measure, too. \u201cForget it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet the police said there was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/19\/world\/americas\/brazil-soldiers-president-lula-assassination-plot.html\" title=\"\">a far darker plan<\/a> at the center of the conspiracy: assassinating Mr. Lula, his running mate and Justice Moraes. The police have arrested five men whom they accuse of planning to carry out the assassinations, four of them from an elite Brazilian military unit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The men, the police said, deployed to Justice Moraes\u2019s neighborhood several weeks before Mr. Lula\u2019s inauguration. They were prepared to kidnap the judge but abandoned the plot after Mr. Bolsonaro did not declare the state of emergency, the police said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The police said Mr. Bolsonaro was aware of the plan. The closest link the police disclosed was that the plan had been printed at the presidential offices and later taken to the presidential residence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bolsonaro denied he knew anything about such a plot. \u201cWhoever made this possible plan should respond,\u201d he said. \u201cOn my part, there was no attempt to execute three authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He then downplayed the accusations. \u201cEven so, I think it was just another fantasy \u2014 bravado. Nothing. This plan is unfeasible. Impossible,\u201d he said. He admitted he knew the accused leader of the plot. \u201cEveryone is responsible for their actions,\u201d he said. \u201cAlthough, as far as I know, he did not take any action.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brazil\u2019s attorney general is weighing whether to indict the former president, which would likely lead to a high-profile trial this year and a potential prison sentence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While maintaining his innocence, Mr. Bolsonaro admitted he worried about his freedom because Justice Moraes could help convict him. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about being judged,\u201d he said. \u201cMy worry is who will judge me.\u201d After police confiscated his passport last year, he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/americas\/jair-bolsonaro-hungary-video.html\" title=\"\">slept for two nights<\/a> at the Hungarian embassy in an apparent bid for asylum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brazil\u2019s courts have already taken action. Six months after he left office, Brazil\u2019s electoral court, led by Justice Moraes, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/30\/world\/americas\/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html\" title=\"\">barred Mr. Bolsonaro from office<\/a> until 2030 because of his attacks on Brazil\u2019s voting systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bolsonaro called the ruling \u201ca rape of democracy\u201d and said he was trying to find a way to run in next year\u2019s presidential election. Two Supreme Court justices he nominated will lead the electoral court before the election, he said. Those judges have told him, he said, \u201cthat my ineligibility is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Polls show Mr. Bolsonaro remains by far Brazil\u2019s most popular conservative candidate, but many on the right are seeking new options. Some have speculated about his sons: One, Fl\u00e1vio, 43, is an experienced senator, while another, Eduardo, 40, is a congressman who speaks English and has built <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/01\/magazine\/brazil-bolsonaro-trump.html\" title=\"\">close ties to the MAGA movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Bolsonaro is not yet ready to hand over the keys to his movement. He said he would only support his sons staying in Congress for now. \u201cFor you to be president here and do the right thing, you have to have a certain amount of experience,\u201d he said, as another son, Carlos, 42, looked on with a blank expression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Should Mr. Bolsonaro stage a political comeback, he said he would focus his administration on deepening ties with the United States and moving away from China.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But first, he just wants to go to Washington this weekend. \u201cI ask God for the chance to shake his hand,\u201d Mr. Bolsonaro said of Mr. Trump. \u201cI don\u2019t even need a photo, just to shake his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/16\/world\/americas\/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-trump-us.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jair Bolsonaro has had a rough couple of years: election losses, criminal cases, questionable embassy sleepovers. So when he finally received a piece of good news last week \u2014 an invitation to President-elect Donald J. Trump\u2019s inauguration \u2014 it lifted his spirits. \u201cI\u2019m feeling like a kid again with Trump\u2019s invite. I\u2019m fired up. I\u2019m [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/16\/multimedia\/16brazil-bolsonaro-interview-qgfl\/16brazil-bolsonaro-interview-qgfl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[170820,6479,2209,2185,705,170818,164984,167212,2208,167210,26174,137131,2627,5918,776,170819,52,221,1021,128437,137817],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216613,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216611\/revisions\/216613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}