Bolsonaro Denied Passport, Barred From Attending Trump Inauguration Amid Legal Battles

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not be attending Donald Trump’s inauguration in the United States after Brazil’s Supreme Court denied his request to have his passport returned, Al Jazeera reports.

The passport had been confiscated in February as part of several ongoing investigations into the far-right leader. The decision comes as Bolsonaro, often dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” faces multiple legal challenges, including allegations of attempting to overturn the results of Brazil’s 2022 presidential election.

Bolsonaro’s office expressed displeasure with the court’s decision, calling it evidence of “lawfare”— a term referring to the weaponization of the legal system. They also argued that Trump’s invitation to Bolsonaro symbolized “deep ties between two of the greatest democracies in the Americas.” However, the Supreme Court ruled that Bolsonaro, as a private citizen, had no official reason to travel to the US for the inauguration, unlike official government representatives.

Brazil’s ambassador to the US, Maria Luiza Viotti, is expected to represent the country at the inauguration on January 20. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes cited the recommendation of Brazil’s prosecutor general, Paulo Gonet Branco, who argued that the public interest in keeping Bolsonaro in Brazil to face potential legal consequences outweighed the necessity of his travel abroad. De Moraes also referenced previous statements Bolsonaro made suggesting he might seek asylum to avoid criminal liability in Brazil.

The legal issues surrounding Bolsonaro stem from his actions and rhetoric surrounding the 2022 election, which he narrowly lost to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Prior to the vote, Bolsonaro repeatedly spread false rumors about the vulnerability of Brazil’s electronic voting machines, and refused to acknowledge his defeat. Following the election, his supporters engaged in violent protests, culminating in an attack on the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Buildings representing the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court were ransacked.

Bolsonaro himself had left for Florida before Lula’s inauguration, but has since returned to Brazil. He is currently barred from running for office until 2030 as punishment for using government resources to undermine public confidence in elections. He also faces scrutiny for alleged embezzlement, was indicted for publishing false COVID-19 vaccination information, and was recently accused, along with 36 allies, of planning the “violent overthrow of the democratic state.”

Despite the numerous investigations and charges, Bolsonaro has consistently denied any wrongdoing, drawing parallels between his situation and that of Trump, who also accuses his political opponents of using “lawfare” and has made false claims of election fraud.

Trump’s inauguration is expected to be a gathering of prominent right-wing figures, including Argentinian President Javier Milei and British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage. Other notable guests include tech magnates like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, who has become a close adviser to Trump.

The Republican majority on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee expressed support for Bolsonaro after the court’s decision.