Bloomberg — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — who has spent the last two months in the US — is scheduled to speak at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference as he faces investigations back home after riots by supporters who refused to accept his election defeat.
An admirer of former US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro, 67, is expected to appear Saturday at CPAC, a four-day gathering of conservative leaders set to begin Wednesday in suburban Washington, the group said. Trump is Saturday’s marque speaker.
“Many call him the ‘Donald Trump’ of South America,” CPAC said of the former Brazilian president in a Feb. 17 tweet. “Here at #CPAC, we call him a friend.”
Trump endorsed Bolsonaro’s unsuccessful reelection bid, and the former Brazilian president spoke earlier this month at an event organized by Turning Point USA at Trump’s Doral Miami resort.
Bolsonaro — who lost last fall’s election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — has said he intends to remain active in his country’s politics, even though he’s been in the US since just before the end of his term.
Bolsonaro said in a video aired this month that he intends to return to Brazil as he faces multiple investigations, including over whether he had any connection to the Jan. 8 right-wing insurrection in the Brazilian capital that drew comparisons to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters.
He came to the US on a diplomatic passport following his loss to Lula before applying for a six-month tourist visa. He’s been vacationing in Florida since Dec. 30, two days before his term ended.
President Joe Biden hosted Lula at the White House earlier this month in what he characterized as a show of support for Brazilian democracy.
Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman, is also speaking at CPAC on Saturday.
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