Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro left the country on Friday (December 30) for the United States, two days before the end of his mandate and the enthronement of his hated leftist successor, Lula.
Mr. Bolsonaro, who never congratulated Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his victory, should therefore not be present on Sunday at the investiture ceremonies in Brasilia of the new president, who was supposed to wear the presidential sash according to protocol. The presidency did not want to confirm this information. Vice-President Hamilton Mourao is interim president and will speak on Saturday evening, RNR national radio announced.
After saying goodbye to his supporters live on social media, but making no mention of a departure, Mr Bolsonaro boarded an air force plane at around 2pm (6pm in Paris), media reported. The globeCNN Brazil, state and the information site UOL. “I’m flying, I’ll be back soon”said the head of state al CNN Brazil channel. His military plane, identified by the code BRS1, landed in the city of Orlando in Florida shortly after 2 am on Saturday, according to the specialized site Flightaware.
Authorization to leave the territory of 1and to 30 January
A motorcade of presidential cars left the Alvorada official residence complex in Brasilia, an Agence France-Presse photographer noted, without being able to confirm that Mr Bolsonaro was in one of the cars. The General Secretariat of the Presidency has authorized the exit from the territory of the staff members in charge of the security of the “future former president” for a trip to Miami “from 1and as of January 30, 2023 »according to Official Journal of the Union (“Official Gazette”) on Friday.
It should be the first time since 1985 that an outgoing Brazilian president has decided not to wear the presidential sash around his successor. That year, the last president of the military dictatorship established in 1964, General Joao Figueiredo, refused to participate in the investiture ceremony of his successor, José Sarney.
Since the narrow victory of Lula, his sworn enemy, on October 30, Jair Bolsonaro has lived almost as a recluse in Brasilia and closed himself in silence. For Creomar de Souza, founder of the consultancy firm Dharma, Bolsonaro’s departure for the United States takes on the aspects “of a loss” but also of“a denial of reality”. And then “an attempt to delegitimize the result [de l’élection] and the next government”adds the analyst.
“I gave my best”
Earlier in the day, the Brazilian president greeted his supporters, speaking for the first time since his election defeat on social media and wiping away some tears. “The world won’t stop spinning the 1and January. (…) We have a great future ahead of us.”Bolsonaro said. “We lose the battles, but we don’t lose the war. » He has spoken directly to his followers who continue to camp outside barracks or army headquarters in Brasilia and other cities to call for military intervention to prevent Lula from taking office.
“I never thought I’d get this far”said the outgoing president in tears, before declaring: “At least we delayed the collapse of Brazil by four years with this nefarious leftist ideology. “I gave my best”continued Jair Bolsonaro, whose tenure has a lousy record, according to most analysts.
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Outside his official Alvorada Palace residence, protesters shouted after the live broadcast ” cowardly ! », ” shame ! “. The president condemned for the first time an attempted attack by his supporter who planted an explosive device in a tanker near Brasilia airport to “creating chaos” before the enthronement of Lula. “Nothing justifies this attempt at terrorism”he said, without however condemning the camps of his supporters in front of the army headquarters, which pose a threat to the progress of the investiture for which security has been strengthened.
