Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro said Tuesday that he will return to Brazil in March with the aim of leading the opposition to the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as defending himself from accusations about his responsibility in the assault on government buildings.
Bolsonaro has indicated that he is «the national leader of the right», since «there is no one else at this moment» who can take his place, while stressing that «the right-wing movement is not dead and will remain alive», as he stated in an interview with ‘The Wall Street Journal’.
In this sense, he explained that he will work, together with members of Congress and state governments, to promote pro-business policies or fight against abortion and gun control.
Regarding his failure in the presidential elections, Bolsonaro has recognized that «losing is part of the electoral process», but has again questioned the elections. «I’m not saying there was fraud, but the process was biased,» he said after acknowledging Lula’s victory for the first time.
Likewise, the former leader of the Latin American country admitted that there is a risk of being arrested upon his return to Brazil: «An arrest warrant can come out of nowhere», he told the newspaper.
However, he has again rejected his relation with the assault on the Three Powers last January 8 by his sympathizers. «I was not even there and they want to blame me,» he criticized, adding that it was not a coup d’état: «What coup? Where was the commander? Where were the troops, where were the bombs?» he questioned.
Jair Bolsonaro has been in the United States since the end of December 2022, thus eluding the takeover of the current president of Brazil, while investigations into his responsibility in the assault continue.
In addition, he is the subject of five investigations that are being processed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), while he has been charged in two criminal proceedings, reports the newspaper ‘O Globo’.
