Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro checked into a Florida hospital with “abdominal pain” a day after his supporters violently stormed his country’s center of government, evoking the melee at the United States Capitol two years ago.
Bolsonaro fled to the United States two days before his tenure — and presidential prosecutorial immunity — expired as he repeatedly asserted that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had committed election fraud in their fight.
As thousands of his supporters ransacked Braslia’s Three Powers Square containing its Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace, the former far-right strongman was seen hosting supporters, grocery shopping in Florida, and eating KFC at a suburban Orlando retreat owned by former UFC fighter Jose Aldo.
On his last day in office, Jair Bolsonaro was spotted eating at a KFC in Florida.
The Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo said that he was hospitalized at AdventHealth Celebration in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World.
It was the most recent medical issue for Bolsonaro, who had just been hospitalized three times for stomach blockages after being stabbed in 2018 while campaigning.
Some House Democrats had previously requested that the Biden administration extradite the 67-year-old back to Brazil, where he is under investigation for at least four criminal probes, including lying about the election results, relying on the federal police to protect his sons, and harboring a disinformation troll campaign.
Alexandre de Moraes is leading the investigations against Bolsonaro, who has also been accused of theft and mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed 695,000 Brazilians.
A day after the deadly uprising in his native country, Bolsonaro was admitted to an American hospital for stomach trouble.
The likelihood of Moraes signing an arrest warrant for Bolsonaro while he was in self-imposed exile was deemed doubtful by legal experts. According to Bloomberg, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the former leader’s visa status was unknown and that the United States had not received a “official request” from Brazil to extradite him.
Camilo Onoda Caldas, a Brazilian constitutional lawyer, stated that one of Bolsonaro’s main objectives for remaining in office was to defend himself and his children. Since he is considerably more vulnerable now that he is no longer president, he must adopt a much more defensive stance.
About 1,200 individuals had been detained and 400 had been arrested in connection with the violence on Sunday, which Bolsonaro had lukewarmly condemned on Twitter while denying involvement.
»Jair Bolsonaro visits a Florida hospital following the riots in Brazil«