Brazil Former President Jair Bolsonaro seeks 6 Month Visa Extension
Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has filed to extend his six-month visiting visa, according to rumors that he wants to avoid being sued when he returns home.
Felipe Alexandre, Mr. Bolsonaro’s immigration attorney, provided the first official confirmation of the development to The Financial Times.
Two days after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office as Brazil’s new president, the 67-year-old politician left for Florida in December.
Thousands of Mr. Bolsonaro’s ardent followers took to the streets around Brazil after Mr. Lula’s inauguration to protest the election of the current president.
Invading and damaging official facilities, the protesters demanded that the election that put Mr. Lula in power be annulled.
Authorities in Brazil initiated an investigation into the role Mr. Bolsonaro played in the encouraging attacks to overthrow a democratically elected government figure after there was violence in several cities around the nation.
Once the former president returns home from the United States, he will have to deal with a number of open legal cases.
After returning to Brazil, Mr. Bolsonaro, who is said to have entered the US on an A-1 visa, would not be entitled to immunity from prosecution.
The A-1 visa is only available to head of state in office.
