Miami, Jan 31 (EFE).- Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who requested a “visa change” from the US immigration authorities, as his lawyer confirmed to EFE, will appear before the press this Tuesday in Orlando (Florida ), where he settled on December 30, 2022, still being the head of state.
The Brazilian-American Felipe Alexandre, from the AG Immigration Group firm, said in an email that the “Grande encontro” (great meeting in Portuguese) called for this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) by Bolsonaro will be attended by a representative of his office.
Alexandre mentioned a “visa change” but without specifying what type they are asking for, although some media have indicated that it is a tourist visa for six months.
Bolsonaro wants to stay in the US
Although no one around him has confirmed it, it is believed that he entered the United States with the A-1 visa for heads of state, which allows a month to stay in the country, a period that would have expired, if so, on Monday. .
The US State Department could not confirm Bolsonaro’s request to EFE because “visa records are confidential by law,” a spokesman for the office said on Monday.
Bolsonaro traveled to Orlando (central Florida) on December 30, two days before Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva succeeded him as the Brazilian Presidency, and stayed at the home of a mixed martial arts fighter, José Aldo, who is one of his followers.
Controversial presence in the United States
His presence in the United States has become more controversial as a result of the attack on the three powers in Brasilia carried out by hundreds of his followers at the beginning of January to overthrow the Lula government.
In a letter addressed to the US president, Joe Biden, after the incidents in Brasilia, a group of 46 Democratic legislators asked that his visa be revoked on the grounds that “authoritarian” leaders cannot be given refuge. that “inspire acts of violence against democratic institutions.”
At the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, on January 14, the Supreme Court of Brazil included the former Brazilian president in the list of those investigated for the attempted coup.
In the month that he has remained in Orlando, Bolsonaro, an ultra-rightist ideology and declared admirer of former US President Donald Trump, was hospitalized for at least 24 hours due to “abdominal discomfort”, according to his wife Michele, who is accompanying him in USA
AdventHealth Celebration Hospital never confirmed that he was admitted there, nor did they report that he had been released.
Bolsonaro’s health
Bolsonaro was in Orlando when “Bolsonarista” protesters who do not accept the defeat of their leader in last October’s elections invaded the headquarters of the three state powers in Brasilia in order to put an end to Lula’s government.
“Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, are part of democracy. However, vandalism and invasions of public buildings such as those that occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, are beyond the rule,” the former president said on his social networks on the same day as the events, on Sunday. January the 8th.
He was photographed by the media on January 10 when he returned to Aldo’s house and was seen getting out of the car under his own power.
The family said that the hospitalization was due to the aftermath of the attack with a knife that he suffered in 2018 in the middle of the electoral campaign.
The retired Army captain, who left power on January 1, also repudiated in his message “the accusations, without evidence” made by the current head of state, who stated that his predecessor “stimulated” the coup acts of his supporters more radical.
