MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro ready to be jailed at any time

Bolsonaro is somehow expecting the Federal Police to ring on his doorbell at 6 am

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told Bloomberg that he was mentally prepared to be incarcerated any time soon, and was somehow expecting Federal Police (PF) officers to pick him up. “I sleep well, but I'm already prepared to hear the doorbell ring at 6 am,” announcing it is the PF. Bolsonaro has already been indicted in the alleged coup plot, the alleged vaccination card fraud, and the Saudi jewels case. In another interview last week, Bolsonaro claimed that the charges did not matter.

 Last month, one of Bolsonaro's closest aides and 2022 running mate General Walter Braga Netto, was imprisoned for reportedly attempting to obstruct investigations by meddling with perks granted to former aide-de-camp Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid for coming front against the rightwing leader.

During his interview with Bloomberg, Bolsonaro compared himself to US President Donald Trump: “I was stabbed here; he took a shot there,” he argued while likening the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riots with the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising in Brasilia against the headquarters of the three branches of government. Bolsonaro also said he was glad with Trump's pardoning those arrested for the Capitol Hill incidents and hoped “we don't need to wait to elect a conservative in 2026 to do the same here.” He also considered himself the only opposition to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for 2026. “Any other name running has a serious risk of losing,” stressed the disenfranchised Bolsonaro. Regarding Cid's statements to the prosecution, Bolsonaro dubbed them “absurd” and insisted they must have been made under pressure. Cid's testimony was one of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence to indict the former head of State.

The retired Army captain also said he would be seeking international help to persuade the Judiciary to lift the ban keeping him from running. In addition, he would also be filing a new request before the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to have his passport returned, so as to be able to attend a conservative gathering in Washington DC next month. STF Justice Alexandre De Moraes said Bolsonaro posed a flight risk and denied him the chance to attend Trump's second inauguration on Jan. 20.