Bolsonaro says he could return to Brazil in the coming weeks – Boston News, Weather, Sports

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) – Former President Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday he intends to return to Brazil “in the coming weeks.”

The comment during an event at a Florida evangelical church marked the first time Bolsonaro publicly commented on a return home.

The far-right politician has been in the US since arriving in Orlando, Fla. on December 31, the eve of the inauguration of his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s current president.

Saturday’s event was held entirely in Portuguese for a Brazilian group of Bolsonaro supporters living abroad and was organized by the right-wing organization Yes Brazil USA. Bolsonaro was cheered throughout the event.

There has been speculation in recent weeks as to when Bolsonaro could return to Brazil, where multiple investigations into possible wrongdoing are ongoing.

He first entered the United States on a one-month diplomatic visa that expired on January 31. He was accompanied by a team of presidential advisers and his wife, all of whom left Florida last month.

Bolsonaro’s lawyers recently told Brazilian media that they had applied for a tourist visa to extend his stay in the United States

Amid speculation about Bolsonaro’s plans, one of his sons, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, told Brazilian reporters he doesn’t know when his father will return. “It could be tomorrow, it could be in six months, he could never come back. I don’t know. He’s relaxing,” said the son.

For the first time in his more than three-decade political career as legislator and then as president, Bolsonaro no longer enjoys the special legal protections that require a trial before the Supreme Court.

Bolsonaro is being investigated in four investigations that were pending in the Supreme Court and were referred to the court over the past week.

Among the investigations is whether Bolsonaro had any role in instigating the January 8 riots by his supporters, who stormed into government buildings in the capital Brasilia and demanded that his election defeat by Lula be overturned.

Investigators are also looking into who organized and funded the mass gathering of Bolsonaro supporters who have descended on the capital from across Brazil.

One of the investigations by the Brazilian judiciary is who is responsible for instigating the crimes and who financed the trip to Brasilia for people from all over the country.

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