Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is now staring down major criminal defenses from inside his house arrest in Brazil. At the same time, his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, has been plotting his own returns from his self-imposed exile in the United States. Things have changed drastically all at once. On January 8, 2023, Bolsonaro’s supporters sacked key government buildings across Brasília, setting off this fiery clash. The former president departed Brazil only two days before the end of his presidential mandate. He vigorously disputes the charges that he conspired with a coup attempt to prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming office.
Jair Bolsonaro’s legal troubles stem from accusations that he incited violence and attempted to overturn the results of the 2022 election. He is looking at several decades in prison if convicted. In response to these serious and repeated allegations, he has just as consistently denied any wrongdoing. He claims he never meant for his followers to storm the Capitol to be violent. His son, Eduardo, reinforced this claim, arguing that Bolsonaro denounced the behavior of rioters who invaded the capital.
As events unfolded in Brazil, Eduardo Bolsonaro has been vocal about his fears regarding his safety should he return to his home country. He refers to his life today as an “exile.” Now, he is doing everything to stay out of arrest because of the pro-arrest political environment. For more than a year, Eduardo has been lobbying the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Brazilian officials charged with carrying out his father’s trial.
“What is going to happen with me if I go back to my country because I’m denouncing these dictators? I’m going to jail, it’s pretty much the same situation. In Iran, they are a little bit more violent,” – Eduardo Bolsonaro
The former president was also dealing with mounting legal peril. His house arrest came after he supposedly breached an order prohibiting him from using social media. Protesters plan to continue demonstrating until authorities drop the requirement that he wear an electronic ankle monitor as one of his restrictions. These steps are the latest in an ongoing inquiry into the circumstances leading up to the attack on Brasília.
Eduardo Bolsonaro has expressed admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump. Of particular interest is his midnight praise of Trump for imposing high tariffs on imports from Brazil. When Trump rolled out a 50% tariff increase, one reason he pointed to Brazil’s welcoming of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was the justification for this move. On the personal front Eduardo has tried to make himself the most faithful implementation of Trumpism, arguing that everything Trump did was justified in order to defend freedom.
“I admire President Trump, we’ve met several times in his first and second term. We fought first to sanction Alexandre de Moraes. But if President Trump starts with tariffs, I do believe that he is right and I do support him because of that.” – Eduardo Bolsonaro
Eduardo has also suggested bringing back Institutional Act Number 5 (AI-5). This decree, put in place during the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship, criminalized dissent. Needless to say, this suggestion has not been warmly received by Brazilians. They view it as part of a broader effort to roll back authoritarian, anti-democratic measures.
As the heat is increasing, some 2,000 people have been detained in the aftermath of the Brasília assault. Eduardo Bolsonaro has tried to distance himself from these actions even as he has sought to undermine the Brazilian government’s crackdown on dissenters.
“January 8th was a protest that did go too far. I do agree, I do condemn it,” – Eduardo Bolsonaro
The political fallout from these relatively minor events is still reverberating throughout Brazil and the United States. Eduardo’s lobbying efforts have led to significant actions from U.S. authorities, including travel bans imposed on eight Brazilian Supreme Court justices involved in his father’s case.
We are grateful to Eduardo for sharing with us a snapshot of Brazil’s political landscape. He persistently stressed the need for immediate reform and improvement of our deficient, dysfunctional electoral system. He often spoke about the need to look past short-term political fights and in favor of future generations.
“I’m not thinking about the next election, I’m thinking about the next generation,” – Eduardo Bolsonaro
He called attention to the cumulative crisis happening in Brazil, which he described as a quadruple crisis. He worried that international pressures, like sanctions, might come in to respond to observed human rights abuses.
“There’s a very significant possibility regarding the application of sanctions and the extension of Magnitsky sanctions to other people,” – Eduardo Bolsonaro
As Jair Bolsonaro faces mounting legal troubles back in Brazil. While his father works to influence international opinion and action to protect their family’s new and fragile political legacy. Eduardo’s outspoken views and connections in Washington could influence how Brazil’s political landscape evolves in the coming months.