(Brasilia) Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for the United States two days before the end of his mandate, will return to his country on March 30, his party and his press service announced on Friday. .
His entourage also confirmed that the former far-right head of state had sent the authorities on Friday via his lawyers jewelry that was offered to him by the government of Saudi Arabia.
Jair Bolsonaro, 68, is accused of smuggling the jewelry into Brazil, a scandal that has been making headlines in recent weeks in the media.
The far-right ex-president will arrive in Brasilia on Thursday March 30 at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. EST), the Liberal Party (PL), with whom he disputed, said on social media. — and lost — the October presidential election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He had left Brazil on December 30, two days before the inauguration of Lula, to whom he should have given the presidential sash, to join Florida.
“I will resume normal activity, I will work for the PL, travel around Brazil and do politics,” said the former president in an interview from the United States broadcast Thursday on the TV Record channel.
Mr. Bolsonaro again denied any impropriety over the Saudi jewelry, after being accused of trying to smuggle the gifts into Brazil.
Two boxes were brought back from Saudi Arabia by a delegation from its former Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, after an official visit in which the former president had not taken part, in October 2021.
One of them, a diamond set by Swiss luxury brand Chopard — intended for first lady Michelle Bolsonaro — was seized by customs at Guarulhos International Airport, near Sao Paulo.
Worth an estimated three million euros ($4.4 million CDN), this finery was in the backpack of an assistant to the minister and had not been declared beforehand.
But Jair Bolsonaro was able to receive another box, containing men’s jewelry valued at more than 70,000 euros (C$104,000), which had not been detected by customs.
“I found out about this story a year later, and my wife found out about it through the press. She has nothing to do with any of this, the box that was for her is at customs,” the former head of state told TV Record.
Only gifts “of a highly personal nature or of minimal monetary value” can be kept by the head of state, reminded the Brazilian Court of Auditors (TCU), which last week ordered Mr. Bolsonaro to hand over the jewels in his possession to the authorities.
