Jair Bolsonaro said he was "reinvigorated" Thursday on his return to Brazil after a three-month stay in the United States, and determined to oppose Lula who defeated him in the presidential election in October.
Arrived early in the morning at Brasilia airport from Florida, he did not greet the some 200 fervent admirers who were waiting for him by chanting his name, and went directly to the premises of the Liberal Party (PL), under whose banner he had run for re-election.
The far-right ex-president just made an appearance from a window to greet other supporters who had come to see him, some dressed in the yellow and green colors of the national flag, before very quickly leaving the premises to greet them from the hand, under a bright sun.
"I am very happy to be back, I spent three months away from Brazil, I am invigorated, and I want us to be able to lead our country towards what we believe is its destiny. Peace, prosperity, order and progress," he said in a speech to PL leaders broadcast on social media.
"Those who are in power at the moment, and not for long, will not be able to do what they want with the future of our country," he insisted, before leaving his party's premises at the start. afternoon.
Jair Bolsonaro, who has no mandate for the first time in more than 30 years, has displayed his ambitions for next year's municipal elections, hoping that the PL and the other conservative parties with which he is allied will win "60% town halls".
"It's a great joy to receive our real president, Bolsonaro," Kaynia, a young indigenous woman who wore a feather headdress outside the PL offices, told AFP and did not give her last name.
The Liberal Party confirmed to AFP that Bolsonaro, by becoming its honorary president, would receive monthly stipends of nearly 7,000 euros. In Brasilia, he took up residence in a very protected residential complex.
The Military Police had been mobilized in numbers for this arrival, for fear of overflows, the PL having made a lot of publicity on social networks for the return of Bolsonaro.
Returning to Brazil, the ex-president, the subject of a long series of investigations, exposes himself to legal proceedings with possible ineligibility and possible imprisonment, while complicating the political deal for his left-wing successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro had left Brazil on December 30, even before the end of his mandate, boycotting Lula's inauguration ceremony on January 1.
At 68 and after an "unfair" defeat that plunged him into depression, he announced last week his intention to "travel the country" and "do politics".
Jair Bolsonaro's return to Brazil comes at a time when President Lula is going through a complicated streak, less than three months after taking office.
After contracting pneumonia, he had to postpone this week a state visit to China on which his advisers were counting to restore his image following various controversies and untimely statements.
"Lula will now have to govern with an organized opposition, that could make a big difference," said AFP Jairo Nicolau, a political analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).
Jair Bolsonaro is entering the midst of a controversy over luxury jewelry, worth at least three million euros, received from Saudi Arabia, which he would have brought illegally into Brazil.
He was summoned by the police on April 5 for a statement.
Bolsonaro, who has lost his immunity, is also the subject of five investigations at the Supreme Court in cases that could earn him prison.
Jair Bolsonaro is also the subject of no less than 16 investigations by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
He could be sentenced to eight years of ineligibility, which would prevent him from running for president in 2026.
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03/30/2023 21:56:29 - Brasilia (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
