WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month tourist visa to stay in the U.S., his lawyer said on Monday, despite demands to cancel any U.S. visas Bolsonaro holds in the wake of violent protests. . in Brazil.
The United States accepted his application on Friday, with his lawyer, Felipe Alexander Bolsonaro, saying Bolsonaro will remain in the United States while his application is processed.
“He wants to take some time off, clear his head and be a tourist in the United States for a few months before deciding what his next step will be,” Alexander said in an emailed response to Reuters.
“Whether he uses the full six months is up to him, and whatever strategy we agree to develop based on his plans,” Alexander added.
The Financial Times first reported that Bolsonaro had applied for a tourist visa.
A State Department spokeswoman said visa records are confidential under US law and the department cannot discuss details of individual visa cases.
[1/2] Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace in Brazil, June 20, 2022. REUTERS/Wesley Marcelino
Far-right Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before his term expires on January 1 and before leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes office, before supporters of the former president stormed the nation’s capital.
Bolsonaro’s supporters looted Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace and called for a military coup to overturn the October election, which Lula won.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has agreed to open an investigation into allegations that Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brazil incited anti-democratic protests that ended with storming of government buildings.
Earlier this month, 41 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives on Thursday asked US President Joe Biden’s administration to cooperate with an investigation into the violent protests in Brazil and to revoke Bolsonaro’s US visas.
The State Department has repeatedly said its policy is not to discuss specific visa issues.
The State Department said anyone entering the United States on an A visa, reserved for diplomats and heads of state, must leave the country within 30 days or apply to change their immigration status. is no longer engaged in official business. Bolsonaro is believed to have entered with such a visa.
Reporting by Dafna Psaledakis; Edited by Aurora Ellis
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