Some Democratic congressmen have already called on Biden to expel Bolsonaro
Joedson Alves/EPA
Some Democratic congressmen have already called on Biden to expel Bolsonaro
Joedson Alves/EPA
Brazil’s Justice Minister Flavio Dino said on Monday the government had no reason to ask the US to extradite former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom he holds politically responsible for Sunday’s attacks on public buildings in Brasília.
“Extradition is a legal process with international standards and you can only ask for extradition when someone is asked for a crime. There are still no grounds to demand his extradition,” the minister said at a press conference.
Dino explained that, despite numerous criminal cases against the leader of the Brazilian far right and his recognition of “political responsibility” for attacks by radicals on the headquarters of the President of the Republic, the Congress and the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia, carried out by his supporters on Sunday, no arrest warrant justifying his extradition request.
“As for the expulsion from the US, this is a matter of their sovereignty.. They are [Governo dos Estados Unidos] they can appreciate the convenience of having a citizen on their territory,” Dino added, referring to the possibility that the Joe Biden government will expel Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian far-right leader took refuge in Florida two days before his successor took over and refused to hand over the presidential belt to Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, who won the October presidential election and whose victory Bolsonaro has still not publicly acknowledged. .
Those responsible for the terrorist attacks in Brasilia, unprecedented in the history of Brazil, who caused significant damage to major public buildings in the countryare radical “Bolsonarists” who also do not recognize the victory of Lula da Silva in the elections and call for a coup.
Some Democratic congressmen have already called on Biden to expel Bolsonaro.
“The United States must stop providing Bolsonaro asylum in Florida,” New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a social media post.
Similar requests have been made by lawmakers such as Texan Joaquin Castro, Minnesota’s Ilha Omar, and California’s Mark Takano.
White House Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that the US government has no direct contact with Bolsonaro and that the Brazilian government did not demand the return of the former president.
“If we received such a request, we would take it seriously, as always,” Sullivan said in comments to the media during a visit to Mexico.
Supporters of the former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, invaded the headquarters and destroyed it. Federal Supreme Court, Congress and Planalto Palacein Brasilia, forcing the police to intervene to restore order and drawing condemnation from the international community.
The military police succeeded in regaining control of the headquarters of the three powers in an operation that resulted in the arrest of at least 1,500 people.
The invasion came after Brazilian far-right militants, supporters of the former president, who was defeated by Lula da Silva in elections last October, protested the Esplanade dos Ministerios.
However, Federal Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes suspended Federal District Governor Ibanez Rocha for 90 days, given that both the governor and former Minister of Security and former Minister of Justice Bolsonaro Anderson Torres acted with negligence and omission.
Source: Observador