Texas Democrat calls for US authorities to extradite Bolsonaro back to Brazil

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called on the Biden administration and local authorities in Florida on Sunday to send back to Brazil its former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters stormed the country’s Congress and Supreme Court.

Bolsonaro “should be extradited to Brazil,” Castro said to CNN’s Jim Acosta. “In fact, it was reported that he was under investigation for corruption and fled Brazil to the United States. He’s a dangerous man, they should send him back to his home country, Brazil.”

Bolsonaro flew to Florida in late December as he faced multiple investigations from his time in office, according to The New York Times. Bolsonaro, who lost his bid for reelection in October, did not completely concede to the newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Thousands Bolsonaro’s supporters broke into Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace Sunday to protest the results of the election. Castro, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, compared the country’s protests to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, which hit its two-year anniversary mark on Friday.

“Bolsonaro was an authoritarian leader, and I stand with the democratically elected leadership in Brazil,” he said. “He basically used the Trump playbook to inspire domestic terrorists to try to take over the government.”

“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” he added. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian, who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”

President Biden also condemned the violence in Brazil Sunday, saying that he will continue to work with Lula and that Brazil’s democratic institutions have the United States’ “full support.”

“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” Biden said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”

When asked during a trip to the southern border what he thought of the situation as it was unfolding, Biden called it “outrageous.”

The U.S. Embassy on Twitter on Sunday warned its citizens in Brazil that, “Media and police report that an antidemocratic protest has turned violent and is now occupying areas of central Brasilia including the Brazilian National Congress and areas surrounding the Plaza of the 3 Powers.”

“Brazilian police forces are responding,” the tweet added. “U.S. citizens are warned to avoid the area until further notice.”