The ex-president Jair Bolsonaro will return to Brazil this Thursday after a stay of three months in USA in the midst of the judicial conflict for jewelry smuggling, which links him to the government of Saudi Arabia. The leader will seek to once again lead the Brazilian Liberal Party (PL), the main opposition force to President Lula Da Silva.
In statements with the Bolsonaro radio Jovem Pan, Bolsonaro announced his return and his political intentions: “I’m out of office but I’m not retired. “I don’t know if there will be people waiting for me, I want to go back to Brazil to live a normal life,” she added.
The former president plans his arrival at 7:10 a.m. on a Gol airline flight that will arrive in Brasilia from Orlando, Florida. His supporters will organize to receive him after he left the country on December 30, two days before the end of his term, and thus avoid the passing of command to Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the October elections.
Bolsonaro’s figure was recently supported by former US presidential adviser Steve Bannonconsidered a benchmark of the global extreme right.
The return of the leader of the Brazilian right comes at a negative moment for his image at the national level: after losing the elections in October 2022, their numbers fell from 50.9 to 49.1%added to the judicial conflicts that involve him in an alleged smuggling of jewels.
Justice investigates Bolsonaro’s management for smuggling
The former president received a large amount of jewelry from the Saudi authorities in October 2021, including “a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of diamond earrings”all gifts for who was at that time the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro.
Upon returning to Brazil, Customs agents found the jewelry in the backpack of one of the soldiers who traveled with the presidential entourage. and they verified that none of the objects had previously been declared as legal trademark. “They are accusing me of a gift that I did not ask for, nor did I receive. There is no illegality on my part“Brazil Bolsonaro, who is still in the United States, told CNN.
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The goods were seized at the Guarulhos international airport, in São Paulo., according to information from the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo that was later confirmed by other media. Former Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque tried to recover the jewels without success on numerous occasions.
In the last hours a third package of jewels was known: it is about another set of watches and jewelry valued at more than $100,000 delivered by the Saudi prince in 2019. The gifts are being investigated for possible connections to the privatization of the Landulpho Alves refinery, located in Bahia, which was acquired by the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Capital.
Source: Ambito
