WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro a “faithful copycat” of Donald Trump and said there was no chance Bolsonaro would return to the presidency.
The leftist leader told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday that Brazil’s judiciary is investigating Bolsonaro for attacks on democracy.
During the interview in Washington ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Biden, Lula said that he would not ask the United States to extradite Bolsonaro – who has been in Florida since the end of December – as any such request would be up to Brazil’s judiciary.
But Lula said he hopes the former president will be convicted of genocide by an international court for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that killed 698,000 Brazilians.
Bolsonaro’s U.S. trip insulates him from any immediate legal jeopardy in Brazil, where he is under investigation in at least four criminal probes.
Lula will meet Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon on a visit intended to show U.S. support for democracy in Brazil that came under threat from Bolsonaro, who has never conceded his defeat in last year’s presidential election.
Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, calling for a military coup to oust Lula, in an echo of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Lula said Bolsonaro, who flew to Florida two days before leaving office at the end of December, did not like labor unions, did not like talking to business, and did not like talking to journalists. “It is just him and his lies,” he said.
Lula said he removed the commander of the army because sectors of the military were considered by his administration to be complicit with those seeking to restore Bolsonaro and that the government is currently purging pro-Bolsonaro officers.
When asked about Brazil’s neutrality regarding the war in Ukraine, the Brazilian leader said Russia made the mistake of invading a sovereign country, but he defended his decision not to provided German-made artillery ammunition sought for the West’s support of the Ukrainian defense.
“If I sent the ammunition, I would be joining the war. I don’t want to join the war. I want peace,” Lula said.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
