Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States on Friday, two days before the end of his mandate and the enthronement of his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasilia, several media reported. The far-right figure had already indicated on several occasions that he might not be present for the handover.
He should therefore not be present on Sunday January 1 at the ceremonies of enthronement of the new left-wing president, his rival Lulato which he was supposed to pass the presidential sash according to protocol.
Questioned by AFP, the presidency did not wish to confirm this information. Vice-president Hamilton Mourão is acting as president and will speak on the evening of Saturday December 31, national radio RNR announced.
Very silent since his defeat in the presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro spoke to his supporters on social networks before his departure. In particular, he condemned an attempted attack foiled before Christmas. The author of this attempt, one of his supporters, had first admitted to having been inspired by the far-right president, before withdrawing its references to the latter.
Member of a pro-Bolsonaro camp, he had installed an explosive device in a tanker truck near Brasilia airport. The goal : ” sow chaos and get military intervention.
Nothing can justify here in Brasilia this attempted terrorist attack near the airport, nothing justifies it. You can’t think that January 1st is the end of the world! It’s not a matter of all or nothing, no! It’s not an all or nothing affair! We have to show intelligence, show that we are different from the people on the other side. We respect the laws and the constitution, god, country and family. These are things that exist forever. Brazil is not going to be shipwrecked. Believe in yourselves! We may lose battles, but we are not going to lose the war.
Jair Bolsonaro leaves Brazil before handing over power and denounces a foiled attack attempt
Departure to Mar-o-Lago, at Donald Trump’s?
Without mentioning a departure on the networks, Jair Bolsonaro boarded an air force plane around 2 p.m. (5 p.m. UT), reported the media O Globo, CNN Brasil, Estadão and the UOL news site.
” I’m in flight, I’ll be back soon “said the far-right head of state to CNN Brasil. If Jair Bolsonaro did not indicate where he was going, his security services are already in Florida, in the United States. A destination confirmed by the American daily washington post.
According to Brazilian media, he would stay at Mar-o-Lagoowned by former US President Donald Trump, to which he is close.
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High tensions in Bolsonarist camps in front of the army
For more than sixty days, Jair Bolsonaro’s disappointed voters have still been contesting his presidential defeat to left-wing figure Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. They camp tirelessly in front of the army headquarters in the big cities of Brazil to demand a military intervention that would prevent the coming to power of the candidate of the Workers’ Party (PT).
On the eve of the investiture in Brasilia, a very tense atmosphere reigns among the Bolsonarists, reports our special correspondent in Brasilia, Sarah Cozzolino.
Thursday, December 29, police and soldiers tried to dismantle part of the camp, without success. They were received by stone throwing and had to give up the operation. On the spot, nobody agrees to speak to the press but the speeches are clear:
” Giving up is not an optionsays on a small stage a blonde woman in her forties, wrapped in a Brazilian flag. We will liberate this homeland she shouts to a hundred people listening to her. ” We will die for Brazil “, responds the public.
Like the author of the attempted attack in Brasilia, also a member of a camp, certain militants say that they are ready to fight ” until the end because they still refuse to think that Lula’s investiture will take place.
But very quickly, the RFI microphone is spotted and the team is expelled manu militari. Activists ask if they are journalists, left-wing people, French, sent by French President Emmanuel Macron. In less than two minutes, the crowd points to RFI journalists as agents of the French government who have infiltrated their ranks to derail the movement. The atmosphere becomes tense and the activists violently expel them.
High tensions in Bolsonarist camps in front of the army, in Brasilia
►Read also: Brazil: supporters of Jair Bolsonaro try to invade the police headquarters in Brasilia