KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) – A couple of dozen fans signed autographs of Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, but the controversial former Brazilian president did not show up to greet him after a stint in the hospital earlier this week.
The right-wing populist has quietly remained with supporters in suburban Orlando since leaving Brazil in late December and bypassing the Jan. 1 swearing-in of a leftist successor. On Sunday, supporters at home who refused to accept his defeat stormed the Brazilian capital, prompting some lawmakers there and in the US to call on the Biden administration to expel him.
Eduardo Carvalho, 47, a Brazilian-born realtor and pastor from Kissimmee, Fla., was outside the home of mixed martial arts fighter Jose Aldo on Friday. He said the former president did not cause the capital attack and should be left alone.
“He came here legally, he didn’t do anything and why – if this is a free country – would we treat a former president like that? It’s a shame,” he said.
Supporters handed the security guard outside the house things like t-shirts, hats, banners and pieces of paper to sign. One woman sent her shoes.
The man entered three times and each time returned a few minutes later with Bolsonaro’s autograph on the item.
Carvalho, who said he supports Bolsonaro because he has promoted family values and home schooling “free from indoctrination,” said he sent small gifts, letters and invitations to religious meetings.
Bolsonaro was hospitalized Monday with abdominal adhesions stemming from a 2018 stabbing attack, he wrote on Instagram along with a photo of himself in bed.
He has not posted any health developments, but he told a Brazilian media outlet on Tuesday that he will return to Brazil before his planned late January departure.
He entered the US while still president and will have a visa reserved for heads of state, which will give him at least 30 days after the end of his term before having to leave or apply for a visa change.
A group of 46 Democratic lawmakers wrote to President Joe Biden on Thursday to request that Bolsonaro’s visa be revoked after Sunday’s rampage, in which his supporters trashed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. The letter said the US should not protect leaders “who have inspired violence against democratic institutions.”
John Raoux in Kissimmee, Fla., contributed to this report.