Journalists also asked Bolsonaro about the wave of left-wing governments in Latin America and he considered that “there is nothing good about it.” He said: “Look at Venezuela, the richest country in the world in oil sunk in poverty equivalent to that of Haiti.”
The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), announced this Saturday in Washington DC that he will return “shortly” to his country to return to normality and engage in politics; and in passing described the current Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvaof “bandit”.
“I am going to return shortly (to Brazil) to try to return to normality, do politics and be closer to my family”he said in statements to the press after delivering a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the largest annual forum of the right-wing in the US, which this year is being held in the country’s capital.
Bolsonaro has been in the US since December 30 and is pending a visa change requested by his lawyer in January to stay six more months in this country, where he arrived two days before the end of his term.
This time he has been installed in Florida, from where he left on Friday for the US capital to participate in the CPAC, as the opening act for the former US president Donald Trump (2017-2021).
Bolsonaro was in the US when thousands of his followers invaded and vandalized the headquarters of Parliament, the Presidency and the Supreme Court on January 8, for which reason he has been included in the list of those investigated by the Supreme Court for alleged incitement.
In his speech this Saturday at the CPAC, he made no allusions to what happened or to an eventual return to Brazil, but he did drop that, Although he welcomes the opportunity to serve as a mandate, his mission “is not over.”
Jewels and the “bandit”
In his statements to the press later, Bolsonaro was asked about the controversy over jewelry given away by Saudi Arabia and denounced that they want to compare him with his successor in office, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom he called a “bandit”.
“They accuse me of a gift that I did not receive, nor did the first lady. Even the value was a surprise for me, ”lamented the former president, who indicated that he is being“ crucified ”for this matter.
“I read articles in the newspapers saying that I tried to take the jewels illegally to Brazil – he added – and that’s a lie”.
“The press also talks about an absurd thing, that I would have to pay 50%. He would have to pay 8 million reais (1,538,461 dollars) -he said-. Where am I going to get that money, for God’s sake? I am a person who does not have assets to assume that ”.
Bolsonaro has traveled to Washington accompanied by former Tourism Minister Gilson Machado and by federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, the third of his children. Machado had anticipated on his Twitter account that after his speech the former president He was scheduled to meet Trump.
However, asked this Saturday by EFE, Machado pointed out that it was not certain that the meeting between the two would take place.
In his statements to the press, Bolsonaro recalled that he is a friend of Trump: “I hold him in high esteem and my son Eduardo is closer to his family.”
The journalists also questioned him about the wave of left-wing governments in Latin America and he considered that “there is nothing good about it. Look at Venezuela, the richest country in the world in oil sunk in a poverty equivalent to that of Haiti”.