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Jair Bolsonaro was thousands of miles away when a mob of his supporters ransacked Brazil’s capital over the weekend, but the lie that he and his allies told — that the far-right former president actually won an election that he lost — was what lit the fire of insurrection. Already there are calls for him to return home, willingly or not.
Late last year, Bolsonaro, while still Brazil’s head of state, came to Florida, with people spotting him everywhere from fast-food joints to grocery stores. He is now in a hospital outside Orlando where, according to his wife, he is receiving treatment for abdominal pain.
As Brazil’s president, Bolsonaro, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, enjoyed something his fellow Brazilians do not: easy access to the United States, courtesy of the type of visa awarded to diplomats and other foreign government officials. And even now that he is a private citizen, Bolsonaro enjoys legal rights that could long delay any forcible return to Brazil, should it come to that.
At a press briefing on Monday, Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US State Department, declined to comment on whether Bolsonaro used such a visa to enter the country. But he said that it is «incumbent» on any individual on a diplomatic visa — but no longer working for their government — to either leave the country or «request a change to another immigration status within 30 days» of their employment changing.
