Brazil is busy picking up the shreds of last Sunday’s pandemonium, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed, occupied and devastated three government buildings. In some cases, the police stood by, only hours later coordinated action was taken. The attack is suspected to have been largely well directed and organized. Bolsonaro himself is now hospitalized in Florida with stomach pains after being stabbed during an election campaign in 2018.
Bijltjesdag
Early layoffs in the administrative and security hierarchy have decreased and more are to be expected. The tent cities that Bolsonaro supporters had set up near Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in front of military barracks near Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to induce the military to stage a coup have been evacuated. Around 1,500 supporters were arrested for participating in the storming.
Responsibility
Now even a Brazilian senator wants Bolsonaro to return to Brazil to answer for himself. Like President Lula, he thinks Bolsonaro encouraged the rioters in his speeches, he has asked justice for an arrest warrant if the former president refuses to cooperate voluntarily.
Bolsonaro left for the United States shortly before Lula was sworn in. The Americans have not yet received an extradition request, but according to the Bloomberg news agency, the Biden administration is currently considering whether it is possible to convince Bolsonaro to leave the country, voluntarily or forcibly if necessary. President Joe Biden yesterday called his Brazilian counterpart and expressed his support for the newly installed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Brazilian democracy. Lula accepted Biden’s invitation to come to Washington in February.
The Trump Handbook
The former Brazilian president has been hospitalized since yesterday in an American hospital in Florida. According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Bolsonaro has abdominal pains. He’s done it more often since he was stabbed in a 2018 attack while campaigning for president. Even the White House has a stomach ache, but from Bolsonaro himself.
According to US correspondent Jan Postma, the Democrats are angry with Bolsonaro. “They link it to the assault on the Capitol two years ago. Bolsonaro followed Trump’s playbook and is undermining democracy, they say. We can’t keep them here. Democrats find it uncomfortable.”
Legal gray area
It is not clear whether it is possible to expel Bolsonaro, Postma says. According to experts, it really is possible, although Jair Bolsonaro is in a legal and diplomatic gray area. He entered the country as head of state and is therefore entitled to a diplomatic visa valid for 30 days. But during his stay he became the head of state. And this is where the legal shoe pinches for Americans. “It’s also uncharted territory,” says Postma, “it’s not often that someone enters the country as head of state and then loses that status.”
The White House, meanwhile, is silent in all languages. “He will wait for a request from Brazil, until then the White House is at a loss.”