Nine senators from the Democratic Party signed a resolution submitted to the US Senate on Thursday, February 2, condemning the attack by extremist Bolsonaristas and coup plotters in Brasília on January 8 this year and this attempted coup involving former President Jair Bolsonaro connect and demand his expulsion from the United States.
The motion submitted to the US Senate vote was signed by Robert Menendez, Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and by Senators Bernie Sanders, Ben Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy, Tim Kaine, Dick Durbin, Jeef Merkley and Chris Van Hollen.
The document by the nine US senators condemns the violent attempted insurgency in Brasília on January 8, 2023 and underscores the United States’ statement of solidarity with the Brazilian people and support for the protection of Brazil’s democratic institutions. The US and Brazil shared that
“a shared commitment to democratic values, including full respect for free and fair elections”. The senators condemn “the violent siege of Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, fueled in part by the disinformation spread by former President Jair Bolsonaro over several months” and “call for calls on social media and group messaging companies to take concrete steps to put an end to disinformation via their platforms”. The senators also urged US President Joe Biden to “review all requests from the Brazilian authorities regarding the investigation into the January 8, 2023 uprising, including future extradition requests for former senior Brazilian officials,” referring to Jair Bolsonaro is.
On December 30 last year, on the eve of his last day in office, Bolsonaro flew to the United States as a statesman, where he entered on the basis of his diplomatically secured status as an official. At the end of his mandate, however, his visa in the USA was automatically limited and expired on January 30th. According to press reports, Bolsonaro has applied for a tourist visa in the USA.
Whether Bolsonaro can stay in the USA or go back to Brazil or even to a third country (such as Italy, for example, about which Bolsonaro recently stated that “technically” he is Italian) is currently still unclear. There are increasing indications that in Brazil charges could be brought against him.
// Christian Russau
