U.S., Canada, Mexico slam Brazil unrest amid questions on Bolsonaro’s Florida stay
President Joe Biden and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts on Monday denounced the weekend storming of Brazil’s government institutions, pledging to support the recently elected leader of the country, whose predecessor has fueled doubts about his legitimacy.
Three men made the statement as they attended the North America Leaders Summit. Democrats were calling for Jair Bolsonaro to be expelled from the United States. Bolsonaro is reported to have been staying in Florida after he skipped the inauguration of his recent successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, widely known as Lula.
Unwilling to accept his defeat, Bolsonaro supporters on Sunday stormed Brazil’s presidential, congressional and supreme court buildings. These events echo the Jan. 6, 20,21, rebellion at the U.S. Capitol staged by Trump supporters. Bolsonaro, like Trump, has a strongman style. He sought to create doubts about his defeat in the election.
Monday’s statement from Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was short and terse, but it put the countries’ full support behind Lula.
“We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions. Our governments support Brazil’s free will. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond,” the three leaders said.
Numerous Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against the Brazilian attacks since Sunday, while Republicans, possibly due to concerns about avoiding Trump’s ire, were largely quiet as of Monday morning.
Rep. Joaquin CastroTexan Democrat Jeremy Sullivan was among those who said that Bolsonaro should be expelled from Florida and sent back to Brazil. Bolsonaro is currently being investigated on a number allegations.
“Bolsonaro must not be given refuge in Florida, where he’s been hiding from accountability for his crimes,” Castro tweeted.
The State Department refused to comment on which type of visa the ex-Brazilian leader used to enter the United States. Such records are confidential. However, the United States has broad authority to cancel visas.
Bolsonaro, who lost office in November, has sent mixed signals regarding his opinions on what his supporters should be doing to support his claims of a rigged electoral process. It’s not clear what precisely sparked the attacks on Sunday.
But the former president on Sunday did tweet out a careful condemnation that also dinged his political foes: “Peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule.”
Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, has close ties with Trump-aligned conservative figures in the United States, such as Steve Bannon and Jason Miller, and has been in contact with them since the October presidential election.
On his “War Room” podcast on Monday, Bannon claimed the Bolsonaros have not been involved in the unrest in Brazil, and he mocked allegations that he himself orchestrated the assaults. But he has been supportive of the protesters’ efforts.
On Sunday, Bannon called the protesters “Brazilian freedom fighters.” And he has continued to allege corruption and fraud in Brazil’s election and on Monday called for Lula to “open up the machines.”
Meredith McGraw was a contributor to this report.