Bolsonaro considering return to Brazil in 'coming weeks'
February 12, 2023
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has said that he plans to return to Brazil "in the coming weeks,'' after being in the United States for over a month.
The far-right politician had flown to Florida two days before incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil's new president on January 1.
"There is no place like home ... We know Brazil is a fantastic country," Bolsonaro said at a gathering of Brazilians in Boca Raton, in a video posted online by broadcaster CNN on Saturday.
"I also want to return to Brazil. I intend to return to Brazil in the coming weeks."
Investigations into former president
Back home in Brazil, Bolsonaro is the subject of several probes into possible wrongdoing.
He is accused of inciting anti-democratic protests that resulted in the storming of government buildings in the capital Brasilia.
In a political career that spans over three decades, this is the first time Bolsonaro no longer enjoys the special legal protection that requires any trial be held at the Supreme Court.
However, there has been speculation of Bolsonaro's return.
He had initially entered the US on a month-long diplomatic visa, along with a team of presidential advisers and his wife, all of whom left Florida last month.
Recently, the former president's lawyers had told Brazilian media that they had applied for a tourist visa to extend Bolsonaro's stay in the US.
dvv/kb (AP, Reuters)