The day that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office as president of Brazil, his predecessor was seen eating at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in Kissimmee, near Orlando (Florida).
Jair Bolsonaro, “the Donald Trump of the tropics”, imitated his teacher. As the American did when losing to Joe Biden, he denied defeat and fled to Florida without conceding victory. And the two applied similar coup rhetoric that ultimately led to the assault on democratic institutions in both countries.
According to the Brazilian press, Bolsonaro was admitted to an Orlando clinic for abdominal pain
Now the ball, without eating or drinking it, even though he knows firsthand what Lula is going through, has fallen on Biden’s roof. As the hours go by, the pressure on the president of the United States increases to revoke the visa that allows Bolsonaro to be in Florida. The newspaper The globe He assured that the former president was admitted this Monday to an Orlando hospital due to severe abdominal pain. This is not the first time something like this has happened, after an operation he underwent in 2018.
The White House reported that it has not received any official request from Brazil for the extradition. But from the side of the Democrats, legislator Joaquin Castro, a member of the Foreign Affairs committee of the Lower House, pointed out that Bolsonaro followed “Trump’s manual to inspire domestic terrorism and try to take over the Government.” In his view, “Bolsonaro is in Florida and should be extradited to Brazil.”
For Castro, “the United States should not be the refuge for these authoritarians who inspire domestic terrorism in their own country and should not be allowed to be in Florida, where they have gone into hiding to not be held accountable for all the crimes they have committed.” .
The events that occurred last Sunday in Brasilia, the political heart of the Brazilian republic, immediately echoed for the Americans what happened on January 6, 2021, when the Trumpist hordes, urged on by their leader, tried to seize the control of the Capitol and prevent Biden’s victory.
Almost two years after the fascist attack on the Capitol, we see the fascists trying to do the same in Brazil
This similarity is what has led to eyes falling on Florida and the demand that the former Brazilian president be expelled.
It must also be recognized that this is not unanimous. Kevin McCarthy, recently elected president ( speaker ) of the Lower House had not yet issued a statement, more than 24 hours after the Bolsonaro insurrection. McCarthy, one of Trump’s most submissive supporters, denied his initial condemnation of the self-coup two years ago.
Instead, one of her most despised lawmakers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeted that “almost two years after the fascist attack on Capitol Hill, we see fascists trying to do the same in Brazil.” And she added that “USA. should not guarantee refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida”.