Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested Saturday after a judge deemed him a flight risk following his conviction on attempted coup charges. after his 2022 election defeat.
The former president cHe confirmed that he tried to burn, with welding equipment, the device that monitors his house arrest
Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro’s arrest after his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, called on his supporters to hold a vigil in front of the residence where the former leader is under house arrest.
Authorities believed there was a credible threat that Bolsonaro could try to seek refuge at a foreign embassy in Brasilia amid the “chaos” caused by such a vigilMoraes wrote in an order.
Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup d’état after his defeat by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Under house arrest since August, Bolsonaro, 70, He was placed in preventive detention by the Federal Police and detained at its headquarters in Brasilia.. He had previously been ordered to wear an electronic shackle, and concerns about the risk of escape arose from evidence that he had tampered with the device, according to Moraes’ order.
Bolsonaro’s spokesman, Fabio Wajngarten, denied the allegations in a social media post, stating that “the ankle monitor is currently working.” Wajngarten previously denied that Bolsonaro had considered leaving Brazil when federal authorities They accused him of considering a request for political asylum from Argentina before the trial.
The embassies of the United States and Argentina, which were cited in Moraes’ order as possible destinations if Bolsonaro tried to fleedid not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal business hours.
The episode will influence the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to allow Bolsonaro to serve his sentence under house arrest, although his advanced age and poor health will also be taken into account, according to a person familiar with the judges’ thinking who requested anonymity. The panel of judges overseeing the case is scheduled to meet Monday to decide whether to uphold Moraes’ order.
The arrest is the latest step in the rapid fall of the former Army captain who rose from the back benches of Brazil’s Congress to its presidency on a wave of anti-establishment sentiment in 2018. It comes as leftist Lula, Bolsonaro’s political archenemy, is on top after securing major tariff relief from Donald Trump, the US president who imposed punitive levies on Brazil in a bid to help Bolsonaro escape his legal troubles.
The case against Bolsonaro arose from an investigation into the attempted insurrection of January 8, 2023 in Brasiliawhere thousands of his supporters stormed federal buildings as they urged the military to overthrow Lula a week after he took office.
Prosecutors later accused Bolsonaro and seven allies, including military personnel and former members of his cabinet, of conspiring to attempt an overthrow that included plans to assassinate Lula, his vice president, and Moraes. Before his own arrest in 2018, Lula supporters organized vigils in which massive crowds gathered to support the leftist leader who had been convicted on corruption charges a year earlier.
Lula, who ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, served 580 days in prison before his convictions were overturned, setting the stage for his political comeback and Bolsonaro’s defeat.
Trump’s help
The Bolsonaro trial triggered a rapid deterioration in relations between the United States and Brazil after Trump announced 50% tariffs on numerous Brazilian products in an attempt to get the court to drop the charges. Subsequently, The White House imposed sanctions and visa restrictions on officials and their families.
The pressure arose after another son of Bolsonaro, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, moved to the United States to request help. However, Trump’s intervention boosted Lula, who in October became South America’s most popular president.
Trump’s interest in the case appears to have waned since Bolsonaro’s conviction, and America’s two largest economies are now working to improve relations.. Trump and Lula did not discuss Bolsonaro or the case during a phone call in October. They later met in Malaysia, a meeting from which Lula withdrew saying that he hoped for a “definitive solution” to their trade dispute soon.
Trump this week signed an executive order exempting dozens of Brazilian food products, such as coffee and beef, from increased tariffs. Along with the above measures, the order will stop many important exports from Brazil —the world’s largest producer of coffee and beef— exempt from increased tariffs.
Bolsonaro’s legal problems have also complicated the Brazilian right’s search for a rival for Lula in the 2026 presidential election. The former president has insisted on his intention to run again despite the conviction and an eight-year ban on running for or holding public office, leaving potential successors in limbo as they try to position themselves for the race.
Investors consider São Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, a former minister in Bolsonaro’s government, as a possible candidate for next year. Members of the Bolsonaro family, including his wife Michelle, are also considered possible options.
“I will not allow him to give up on the purpose that the Lord has entrusted to him,” Michelle Bolsonaro, who was traveling when her husband was arrested, said on social media. “We will continue to pray.”
