ORLANDO, Fla. — The White House is facing mounting pressure to expel former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro from Florida after supporters of the right-wing leader stormed and trashed government buildings in his home country this past weekend.
Bolsonaro is staying in a rental home near Disney World as tensions boil over in Brazil from his recent election defeat. He posted on social media Monday that he had received treatment from an Orlando-area hospital because of abdominal pain stemming from a 2018 stabbing attack but was then discharged.
“Grateful for the prayers and messages of prompt reinstatement,” he tweeted.
He needs to return to Brazil, said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.
“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” she said. “He should absolutely be forced to go back to Brazil and go through the investigation of his crimes and not seek immunity by being in Florida.”
Democratic U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Joaquin Castro of Texas are among members of Congress calling for Bolsonaro to be kicked out of the U.S.
U.S. officials have not received an extradition request from the Brazilian government, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a briefing Monday.
The White House hasn’t spoken with Bolsonaro and “can’t speak definitively about his whereabouts,” he said. The State Department declined to comment on Bolsonaro’s visa status because the records are confidential.
Bolsonaro arrived in Florida on Dec. 30, two days before his successor, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was sworn in as president. On Sunday, Bolsonaro supporters breached Brazil’s Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in scenes reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In recent days, Bolsonaro has been spotted eating at an Orlando-area KFC restaurant and shopping at a Publix grocery store. He’s posed for pictures and signed autographs outside the home where he is staying.
He went to AdventHealth Celebration, a 220-bed hospital near Disney World, because of “severe” abdominal pain, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo first reported.
In an Instagram post, Bolsonaro’s wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, wrote that Bolsonaro was under observation because of abdominal discomfort related to a 2018 stabbing injury. Bolsonaro has been hospitalized multiple times since he was stabbed during a campaign rally that year.
Booting Bolsonaro from the United States would depend on whether criminal charges are filed against him and the type of visa he has been issued, legal experts said.
“For anyone to be extradited out of the United States there has to be a criminal charge in the country that is requesting extradition,” said Jacques Semmelman, an extradition specialist with the Katten law firm in New York. “Deportation is an entirely different government function with a different set of rules. That would depend on the facts and circumstances under which the individual has entered the country and is remaining in the country.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, whose district includes Bolsonaro’s rental home, said the United States is ready to work with the Lula administration now in power in Brazil.
“We welcome any tourist here, including Bolsonaro, but that wouldn’t stop extradition,” Soto said. “It’s a matter for Brazilian authorities. The United States will cooperate.”
Bolsonaro is facing at least four probes in Brazil, Reuters reported. Those investigations include allegations he spread electoral falsehoods and maintained an online disinformation effort, according to Reuters.
President Joe Biden, along with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning “attacks on Brazil’s democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott denounced the unrest in a tweet, but most of Florida’s Republican leaders haven’t addressed the events in Brazil. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ offices did not respond to emails seeking comment Monday.
Eskamani called on DeSantis, widely seen as a possible presidential contender in 2024, to address Bolsonaro’s presence in Florida.
“Watching the scenes from Brazil for many of us is so reminiscent of Jan. 6,” she said. “It further highlights how democracy is at stake around the world, and we each have to play a part in protecting it.”
Supporters continue to flock to Bolsonaro’s rental home in the Reunion community near Kissimmee. One couple drove from Jacksonville and hoped to meet Bolsonaro, who they said has done good things for the country.
“I am sure he’s happy to be here,” said Angela Silva, who made the trip with her Brazilian husband, Rafael. “Who wouldn’t be happy to be in America?”
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(Orlando Sentinel staff photographer Joe Burbank contributed to this report.)
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