Bolsonaro Refuses to Lead Brazil’s Opposition

Mexico City, March 30 – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, before leaving the United States, where he has been there since December, told CNN Brazil that he does not intend to lead the opposition to the government of Luis Inacio da Silva upon his return.

“I will not lead any opposition. I will work with my party as a person with experience – 28 years in the Chamber of Deputies (ed. – Ed.), Four years as president, two years as a consultant and fifteen years in the army – to cooperate with those who want it …

The Brazilian Liberal Party, from which Bolsonaro ran in the last elections, had earlier announced that the politician would become the party’s honorary president.

Bolsonaro traveled to the United States at the end of 2022, not wanting to participate in the transfer of power to the new Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The former President of Brazil reportedly applied for a six-month visitor visa to extend his stay in the US. In February, Bolsonaro told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he plans to return to the country in March and lead the opposition to the incumbent president.

In Brazil, Bolsonaro faces several investigations, both into alleged wrongdoing as head of state and the former head of state’s possible involvement in riots started by his supporters after the politician’s defeat in the presidential election.

Supporters of former President Bolsonaro, who have been protesting the results of the presidential elections since the end of last year, seized the Congress building in the Brazilian capital on January 8, and stormed the grounds of the Planalto Palace, the presidential residence, as well as the Supreme Court building, local media reported. The police managed to clear government buildings from demonstrators only in the evening, and the buildings were looted. About 2,000 people were arrested during and after the riots.