Brazil's top court on Thursday refused to return the passport of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro, who had hoped to attend next week's inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. The court said Bolsonaro still posed a flight risk almost a year since his passport was seized as part of an investigation into his alleged orchestration of a coup attempt to remain in power after elections in 2022.
There was still the "possibility of an attempted evasion by the accused," said judge Alexandre de Moraes, who had frequently clashed with Bolsonaro.
In an interview with the New York Times, published shortly before the court ruling, Bolsonaro was effervescent about the possibility of attending the inauguration.
"I'm feeling like a kid again with Trump's invite. I'm fired up," Bolsonaro said, calling Trump "the most important guy in the world."
The man who was dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics" during his time in office later told the YouTube channel of the conservative Revista Oeste website that "an appeal is still possible" against the passport ruling.
Bolsonaro said his wife would attend the inauguration, where she would get "special treatment" because of his long friendship with Trump.
"Everything he suffered there, I've been suffering here," he said.
'Persecuted'
While his hero is returning to office in the United States, the 69-year-old former army captain is staring down multiple criminal charges from investigations launched after his razor-thin election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro has denied all accusations and said he is being "persecuted."
He has been barred from holding public office until 2030 for casting doubts on Brazil's voting system during his failed reelection campaign.
Police have also recommended he be charged with falsifying his Covid-19 vaccination records and misappropriating jewels and other luxury items gifted by Saudi Arabia, valued at $1.2 million.
The most serious allegation is that he "planned, acted, and had direct and effective control" over a plot to block Lula from taking office.
While Bolsonaro cannot attend Monday's inauguration, Trump will have another big fan in the crowd in the form of Argentina's President Javier Milei.
Self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" Milei, who has described himself and Trump as the most important politicians on Earth, was the first foreign leader to visit Mar-a-Lago to congratulate his idol after last November's election win.
Also at the inauguration will be Venezuelan opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia -- recognized by the United States, Europe and several Latin American countries as president-elect after July 28 elections they say were stolen by incumbent President Nicolas Maduro.
His team said Gonzalez Urrutia, who found asylum in Spain and is ending an international tour, will return to Washington two weeks after holding talks with US President Joe Biden.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
