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How to spend 3 months vacationing in Florida like Jair Bolsonaro

Updated Mar 30, 2023, 7:21am EDT
politicsNorth America
Jair Bolsonaro, former President of Brazil, arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro returned to Brazil on Thursday, three months after he first arrived in Florida shortly after losing the presidential election.

The far-right nationalist is expected to become opposition leader to the government led by Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the runoff election last year.

But with his presidential immunity expired, experts say Bolsonaro faces the risk of arrest and prosecution, given his numerous legal probes stemming from his time in office.

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Here’s how Bolsonaro spent his three months as a Florida Man.

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He arrived in Florida on Dec. 30, days before his term as president formally ended and two days before his successor Lula’s inauguration ceremony.

On Jan. 3, he greeted supporters in a resort community in the Orlando area, about five miles south of Disney World. He was reportedly staying at a home owned by former UFC fighter Jose Aldo.

He apparently ate at a KFC in Kissimmee, Florida, on the day of Lula’s inauguration, according to this widely-shared photo.

On Jan. 5, he was spotted sauntering through a Publix, the beloved Florida-based grocery chain.

On Jan. 8, his supporters stormed and ransacked the Brazilian capital buildings, seeking to overturn Lula’s victory. On Twitter, Bolsonaro criticized the riots but deflected responsibility for them, despite making past statements that Brazil’s electoral process was fraudulent.

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On Jan. 9, he was admitted to a hospital near Orlando due to abdominal discomfort resulting from complications from when he was stabbed during the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections.

On Jan. 30, he applied for a six-month visa to stay in the U.S., a spokesman for his lawyer confirmed to Semafor, despite calls for him to be extradited to Brazil.

He spoke at event hosted by the right-wing group Turning Point USA at Trump’s golf club in Miami on Feb. 3.

On March 4, he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, saying his mission was “still not over.”

And on March 25, less than a week before his planned departure, he was the special guest at the grand opening of a burger joint outside Orlando.

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